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Do we know if this was possibly not an accident, but a hostile act by one of our adversaries? Taking one of the 8 USNavy’d mini-carriers without a fight is cert

by 737min 6y ago

Do we know if this was possibly not an accident, but a hostile act by one of our adversaries? Taking one of the 8 USNavy’d mini-carriers without a fight is certainly something China dreams about...

khuey 6y ago
The USS Miami was destroyed in port by a fire set by a disgruntled maintenance worker. There are options other than accidents and acts of war.
jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
No, that's a rather preposterous idea. What exactly would China gain from this that would be worth the possible blowback? The CCP's #1 priority is stability to enable continued economic development. That's why they advance their more adversarial goals via sustained incremental efforts. They view democracies as vulnerable as they so often change leadership, whereas they can sustain very long term goals. Life tends to be more banal than James Bond. The simple explanation here is that something went wrong and sparked a fire during maintenance work, likely welding, and because the ship was in dock with a bazillion service lines running through the hatches, the fire was able to spread to find fuel trivially. Based on a comment I read from one of the DC folks fighting the fire, they don't know the origin, but they do know it got into the fuel lines, which caused a minor explosion. The odds are pretty high they're just gonna have to let the fuel burn off.
- modwest 6y ago
  When I was deployed aboard Naval vessels in 2000 a hole was blown in the side of a ship in our group, the USS Cole. My real life includes attacks on US naval vessels that kill people and destroy equipment.
  - jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
    Of course I know about the Cole. But this was not a bomb. There's a pretty clear difference in frequency of ships bombed in port vs ones that simply catch fire. The whole point of terrorism is to create a public spectacle and take credit for it. And of course, now we've shifted the goal posts yet again from "It was China!" to "It was terrorist!" with none of this changes in belief motivated by new information or evidence.
737min 6y ago
Wow; quite the downvotes for even thinking it could be sabotage? the USN investigators will consider it as a possibility, even if unlikely.

by 737min 6y ago

Do we know if this was possibly not an accident, but a hostile act by one of our adversaries? Taking one of the 8 USNavy’d mini-carriers without a fight is certainly something China dreams about...

khuey 6y ago

The USS Miami was destroyed in port by a fire set by a disgruntled maintenance worker. There are options other than accidents and acts of war.

jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago

No, that's a rather preposterous idea. What exactly would China gain from this that would be worth the possible blowback? The CCP's #1 priority is stability to enable continued economic development. That's why they advance their more adversarial goals via sustained incremental efforts. They view democracies as vulnerable as they so often change leadership, whereas they can sustain very long term goals. Life tends to be more banal than James Bond. The simple explanation here is that something went wrong and sparked a fire during maintenance work, likely welding, and because the ship was in dock with a bazillion service lines running through the hatches, the fire was able to spread to find fuel trivially. Based on a comment I read from one of the DC folks fighting the fire, they don't know the origin, but they do know it got into the fuel lines, which caused a minor explosion. The odds are pretty high they're just gonna have to let the fuel burn off.

modwest 6y ago
When I was deployed aboard Naval vessels in 2000 a hole was blown in the side of a ship in our group, the USS Cole. My real life includes attacks on US naval vessels that kill people and destroy equipment.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
  Of course I know about the Cole. But this was not a bomb. There's a pretty clear difference in frequency of ships bombed in port vs ones that simply catch fire. The whole point of terrorism is to create a public spectacle and take credit for it. And of course, now we've shifted the goal posts yet again from "It was China!" to "It was terrorist!" with none of this changes in belief motivated by new information or evidence.

737min 6y ago

Wow; quite the downvotes for even thinking it could be sabotage? the USN investigators will consider it as a possibility, even if unlikely.