The PROC submarine hull number No. 361 is a Chinese PLAN Type-035AIP (ES5E variant) (NATO reporting name Ming III) conventional diesel/electric submarine. She was reported to have suffered an accident killing all on board in 2003 while at in the Bo Hei Sea between North Korea, and eastern Shandong Province of China. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) is a communist state, comprising most of the cultural, historic, and geographic area known as China. ... Jump to: navigation, search PLAN Jack and Ensign The Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is the naval arm of the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), the military of the Peoples Republic of China. ... A submarine of the Romeo class The Romeo class is a class of military patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union, the Peoples Republic of China, and North Korea. ... Jump to: navigation, search USS Los Angeles A submarine is a specialized watercraft that can operate underwater. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bo Hai (Chinese: 渤海; pinyin: B hăi; Wade-Giles: Po-hai lit. ...

No. 361 was part of the 12th Brigade of the North Sea (Bo Hei) Fleet of the PLAN based at Lu Shun (formerly Port Arthur) in the Liao Ning Province. Location within China Lüshun city or Lüshunkou or (literally) Lüshun Port (Simplified Chinese: 旅顺口; Traditional Chinese: 旅順口; pinyin: , formerly in historic references both Port Arthur and Ryojun)), is a town in the southernmost administrative district of Dalian of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Port Arthur is the name of some places: Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia Old Western name for Lushun, China Port Arthur, Texas, United States of America Port Arthur, Ontario, a city in Ontario, Canada, became part of Thunder Bay in 1970. ...

The loss of the crew of submarine No. 361 is the worst declared peacetime military disaster in the history of communist China.

Ming class

The Ming class of Chinese submarines are an adaptation of the diesel/electric Romeo class submarine built in the Soviet Union, which are based on the German Type-21 U-boat of World War II. A submarine of the Romeo class The (NATO reporting name) Romeo class is a class of military patrol submarines that were built in the Soviet Union, the Peoples Republic of China, and North Korea. ... U-boat is also a nickname for some diesel locomotives built by GE; see List of GE locomotives October 1939. ... Jump to: navigation, search World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons such as the atom bomb . Known in the USSR as: the Great Patriotic War World War II, also known as the Second...

The Central Military Commission ordered the building of the Ming class submarines in 1967 as Project 035. The construction of the first began during October, 1969 at Wuhan Shipyard. The last boat was built in 2002. A total of 20 boats were built, of which 17 are left, and most serve in the North Sea Fleet. No. 361 serving the East Sea Fleet was the thirteenth and was built in 1995 making it one of the newest in the fleet. The Central Military Commission (Chinese: 中央军事委员会 pinyin: Zhōngyāng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì ) refers to one of two bodies within the Peoples Republic of China. ... 1967 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... October is the tenth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of seven Gregorian months with the length of 31 days. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2002(MMII) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Jump to: navigation, search 1995 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

CNN reports that China is increasing training and exercises of its submarines in the east to carry out a policy of "sea denial" to try counter the powerful U.S. Pacific fleet [1]. The location of the incident (see below), the Bo Hei Sea is very strategic for China. It is the closest sea outlet to Beijing, and one of the busiest sea routes in the world.   Beijing[?] (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Pei-ching; Postal System Pinyin: Peking) is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ...

Jump to: navigation, search Image File history File links Bohai_Sea. ...

Incident

According to the official Chinese news agency, Xinhua the submarine was taking part in exercises east of Neichangshan islands in the Bo Hei Sea (渤海) of Northeastern China. [2]. Xinhua (Chinese:新华通讯社/新華通訊社, pinyin:xīnhuá tōngxùnshè) is also the short for Xinhua News Agency Xinhua (Chinese:新化县/新化縣, pinyin:xīnhuà xiàn) is a county in Hunan,China, See Xinhua County. ...

On April 16, 2003, all 70 crew members of the submarine were killed when the diesel engine failed to shut down when the boat submerged and used up all the oxygen in the boat. Jump to: navigation, search April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

According to Xinhua on May 2, 2003, the crippled boat was discovered by Chinese fishermen on April 25, 2003, when they noticed the periscope sticking out. The submarine was then towed initially to Yulin on Hainan Island, and later towed back to the northeast seaport of Dalian. The submarine was drifting for ten days because it was on a silent, no-contact drill. May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Mystery

A number of issues arose with this incident:

• Michael McGinty, an expert on the Chinese navy at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense Studies in London, said "the accident likely happened while the submarine was on the surface. If the accident happened when the boat was under water, it was less likely China could have recovered it," said McGinty, a former British submariner[3]. This contradicts the official version that the submarine was submerged.

• One leading theory for the accident is called, engine run-on casualty. This happens when the diesel engines are still running while the submarine is submerged, instead of switching to electric motors. This results in the diesels sucking oxygen out of the inside of the submarine, suffocating the crew. But this is dismissed because the original Russian design of this submarine has a device that cuts off diesel fuel supply to the engines if it detects a drop in barometric pressure inside the hull.

• Another theory is that seawater seeped into the batteries creating a toxic environment via deadly chlorine gas that could kill an entire crew while on the surface. Again, chlorine gas does not kill instantly. Chlorine gas also has a very distinctive smell.

• Other military commentators also pointed out that the sea water outside of the Liaodong Peninsula was only one to two hundred meters deep, which was considered shallow for a submarine.

• Also, all submarines have multiple escape hatches. So the inability of any of the crew to escape is also considered puzzling.

• The Chairman was shown visiting the submarine at Dalian during the first week of May. The submarine was spanking clean during the visit, which made observers wonder if it was the original.

• The usual complement of a Ming-class submarine is 9 officers and 46 crew. So the existence of 15 additional personnel onboard is puzzling, but maybe related to the exercises.

Impact

CMC Vice-chairman Guo Boxiong led an enquiry into the incident, which resulted in the dismissal of four senior PLAN officers, Navy Commander Shi Yunsheng, Political Commissar Yang Huaiqing, North Sea Fleet Commander Ding Yiping, and North Sea (Bei Hai) Fleet Political Commissar Chen Xianfeng on June 13, 2003. The official verdict was improper “command and control”. Jump to: navigation, search June 13 is the 164th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (165th in leap years), with 201 days remaining. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Quotes

• “The officers and sailors of 361 remembered their sacred duty entrusted to them by the Party and the People. They died on duty, sacrificed themselves for the country, and they are great losses to the People’s Navy.” - Chairman Jiang Zemin, Central Military Commission in a condolence message to families of the dead, 2 May 2003.

Jiāng Zémín (born August 17, 1926) was the core of the third generation of Communist Party of China leaders, serving as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1989 to 2002, as President of the Peoples Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, and... The Central Military Commission (Chinese: 中央军事委员会 pinyin: Zhōngyāng Jūnshì Wěiyuánhuì ) refers to one of two bodies within the Peoples Republic of China. ... Jump to: navigation, search 2003(MMIII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Specifications

• Displacement (Surface): 1,584t
• Displacement (Submerged): 2,113t
• Length: 76m
• Beam: 7.6m
• Draft: 5.1m
• Speed: (Surfaced) 15 knots, (Dived) 18 knots
• Diving Depth: N/A
• Endurance: N/A
• Crew: 55 (9 officers)
• Engines: 2 Shaanxi 6E 390 ZC1 diesel rated at 5,200hp (3.82MW), with 2 Xiangtan alternators and 2 shafts.

The submarine has six torpedo tubes at the bow, two at the stern, and two propellers. It was designed by No. 701 Institute as the first Chinese-designed submarine class.

External links

• Type 035 (Ming Class) Diesel-Electric Submarine
• Chinese Submarine Accident Kills 70 (Taiwanese Security Research)
• includes a picture of 361
• China sub deaths 'must rouse Navy' (BBC News)
• Sackings after China's sub disaster (BBC News)
• China sub victims 'suffocated' (BBC News)
• HK press seeks answers to sub accident (BBC News)
• Picture of Submarine 361