Suspicious pieces collected from S Korean warship sinking area(torpedo pieces?)

SEOUL, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Some suspicious metal and plastic pieces of debris have been collected from waters where the South Korean naval frigate "Cheonan" went down late March.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young made the revelation before the parliamentary defense committee on Friday, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Kim said so far a total of 540 pieces of debris have been collected from the area, and there are one plastic piece and four aluminum pieces have been found among 193 items that have been analyzed by experts.

The aluminum ones appear to be different from the materials used to build the warship, Kim said.

Yonhap said aluminum is a key element used in making torpedoes, while sea mines are made mostly of iron.

The experts are focusing their efforts on analyzing these suspicious pieces, Kim said.

Kim also said chemical analysis on 140 pieces of debris showed no traces of explosive residue.

The 1,200-ton Navy frigate "Cheonan", with 104 crew members onboard, went down on March 26 near the South Korean island of Baekryeongdo off the west coast due to an unexplained explosion that split it in two. Only 58 sailors were rescued.

A joint civilian and military investigation team on Sunday said there is a high possibility that a "non-contact external explosion ", or "close-range external explosion" led to the warship's sinking.

From Yonhap News:

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/05/01/60/0301000000AEN20100501002000320F.HTML

(LEAD) Origin of aluminum fragments taken from warship undetermined: source

SEOUL, May 1 (Yonhap) — The origin of aluminum fragments taken from the site where a warship sank cannot be determined at present, a senior government official said Saturday, toning down speculation that the metal may have come from a torpedo.

The source, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Yonhap News Agency that one of the four small aluminum pieces and one piece of plastic material may have come from the 1,200-ton corvette that broke in two and sank on March 26.

The 88-meter-long ship armed with guns, anti-ship missiles and light torpedoes had a crew of 104 on the night of its sinking, and 46 sailors were killed in the incident.

“At present, it is too early to say if the pieces were from a torpedo or other type of explosive device,” he said.

The official said the ill-fated warship's hull was made of steel, but its superstructure above deck was made from lighter aluminum. Such building techniques to reduce warships’ top-heaviness, which can hurt stability, are common.

He added that the joint civilian and military team that has been set up to investigate is carefully examining the fragments to see if they came from the ship or from an outside device.

“Checking the fragments should take a little more time,” he said.

The comments follow a statement made Friday by Defense Minister Kim Tae-young, who said the aluminum fragments recovered from inside the ship that was salvaged from the sea bottom are different from those normally found on the ship.

The fragments ranged in size from 3 millimeters to 4-5 centimeters.

Authorities, meanwhile, have made a detailed three-dimensional image of the severed parts of the ship and have sent some data to the U.S. Navy for additional analysis.

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