North Korea's new warship sinks at launch in front of Kim Jong-un

[OnlinePoker]

Source: MSN

In a high-profile incident reported by the Korean Central News Agency, North Korea's attempt to launch a warship became a fiasco under the watchful eyes of Kim Jong-un.

The supreme leader attended the impressive unveiling of the 5,000-tonne vessel at Cheongjin Shipyard on May 21, which quickly went awry due to an unfortunate blunder during the launch process.

Intended as a demonstration of military might, confusion ensued when the sequence was mishandled. An early release of the stern sled resulted in it getting jammed, causing the front of the ship to become lodged and inflicting damage to the hull.

This brought the operation to a humiliating halt. Kim Jong-un, having observed the entire catastrophe first-hand, fiercely criticised those handling the event and immediately looked to make reprisals.

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/north-koreas-new-warship-sinks-at-launch-in-front-of-kim-jong-un/ar-AA1FeNh3

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There are about to be a few executions in North Korea.

[Deuxcents]

1. O, yeah..heads are gonna roll

[DUU]

2. More likely they're becoming artillery targets.

[wblffmike]

17. Literally

Literally!

[RockRaven]

3. Anyone remember Gustavus Adolphus, and the Vasa?

He at least was elsewhere (Poland) when his fancy ship went down on the maiden voyage.

[comradebillyboy]

15. I saw the Vasa in Stockholm way back in 1984

during my very first European holiday.

[henbuck]

42. The Lion of the North

If Gustavus had not been killed in battle a lot more of Europe would be Protestant.

[Bread and Circuses]

4. I'll pay good money to see a video of the entire shiteshow

[DUU]

6. I'll second that. A quick Google only showed similar NK ships.

[Talitha]

9. Hell, I'll bring the popcorn.

Drinks too - if there are zoom-ins of their dear leader's face.

[JoseBalow]

5. D'oh!

[Silent Type]

7. I'd pay to see his face. Heck, his face would become a viral meme worth good money.

[Jack Valentino]

8. "Would you classify that as a launch problem or a design problem?"

https://www.google.com/search?q=would+you+classify+that+as+a+launch+problem+or+a+design+problem&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS1151US1151&oq=would+you+classify+that+as+a+laun&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i546i649j0i512i546j0i751.13625j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:a8268712,vid:wfbqJpn8fN8,st:106

Love that movie.... 'Real Genius' (1985) One of Val Kilmer's earlier movies

[Gimpyknee]

10. The warship didn't sink.

[SCantiGOP]

14. Right. It didn't sink

It was damaged but stuck on the launching mechanism.

[DFW]

20. The morale of the shipyard workers did, though.

I’m just speculating, of course……

[ToxMarz]

11. Maybe this is the start of a trend for authoritarian leaders

and their shiny new toys. Too bad he wasn't on it, maybe the next one will be.

[Hekate]

12. Ooops. No laughs here -- there's probably a purge going on at this moment...

…by the man that fed his uncle to the dogs, alive.

[sheshe2]

21. Would it make me a terrible person to wish...

a similar event happening during TSF's military parade? Perhaps the tanks weighing 60 tons could sink a few feet into the ground. No casualties, just them sinking and rendering them inoperable and causing the parade to hault.

[multigraincracker]

26. I'd laugh if it rained on his parade.

A really hard rain.

[sheshe2]

32. That would be great! 😊

TSF hates to get, what passes for hair, wet!

[Hekate]

34. Ha. That I could go for.

[sheshe2]

35. 👍

🥰

[Chemical Bill]

41. I thought of that...

then I read that the roads will be covered with metal plates so the tanks won't sink.

Of course, the grifter could order a tank to drive up the White House driveway, so there's still hope.

[Warpy]

13. Apparently it baarely touched water

when it flopped over and sank like a rock.

Kim is demanding the ship be refloated and salvaged and refitted for full use by mid June. I wonder if Kim is going to lose face by refusing to point at the part f the ship sticking above the water and telling it to rise and having it done. Probably not.

One hopes someone introduces N. Korean engineers to things like ballast and center of gravity.

One wonders if they were so concerned with all the scary stuff up on deck that they neglected to install the engines and fuel tanks, thinking those could be retrofit later when the ship was scaring people as it sat in port.

Whatever the cause, it takes major talent to pull something like this off.

[AzTired64]

16. Court Martial

North Korean court martials consist of being strapped to the front of an anti-aircraft gun. No good, funny as ****, but not good.

[AllaN01Bear]

18. ik just have to, i just have to, glub. glub glub glll.

oh yya,,,,,, snork.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

19. Blunder or sabotage? NT

[YoshidaYui]

22. Yes,

Heads will roll for this one.

[CloudWatcher]

23. Damaged yes, but no reports of it sinking

Nothing I've been able to find indicates it ever made it into the water. Damaged bottom, but sunk? Ofc North Korea isn't the most transparent of countries, perhaps satellite photos will reveal whether or not it's still above the surface.

[Brother Buzz]

37. Capsized, half in the water, half on the hard

Western ship engineers are speculating the ship is seriously damaged way, way beyond the reported hole in the hull.

Ships this size cannot be torqued without experiencing internal structural damage, Baby!

[progree]

39. Wow! Thanks for picture. More from CNN

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kim-jong-un-s-fury-after-watching-north-korea-s-new-navy-destroyer-crippled-in-botched-launch/ar-AA1Ffq5E

The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said a malfunction in the launch mechanism caused the stern of the as-yet unnamed 5,000-ton destroyer to slide prematurely into the water, crushing parts of the hull and leaving the bow stranded on the shipway.

. . . “If the ship does not move together, the stresses will tear the hull apart,” Sal Mercogliano, a professor at Campbell University in North Carolina and a maritime expert, told CNN.

Naval analyst Carl Schuster in Hawaii, after reviewing the KCNA account, said he thinks the stresses would “warp the hull, induce cracks and (possibly) snap the keel depending on where the greatest stress falls.”

Retired South Korean Adm. Kim Duk-ki told CNN that North Korea appeared to lack the necessary infrastructure – a dry dock – to launch a 5,000-ton destroyer, let alone recover and repair it. A dry dock is a basin facility that can be filled with water to float a ship or drain out to build or repair one. “Dry dock is an expensive facility, and North Korea probably doesn’t have one…

... Mercogliano, the US professor, said it’s unclear whether Pyongyang’s new warships even have engines as state media has provided no images of them underway. ((previous sentences were about NK's rushing the new warships' construction and launches for prestige purposes, and that this launch was an example of what can happen when things are rushed -Progree))

Engines, who needs those? That's what tug boats are for

The hosting website is msn.com, but the article is from/by CNN

[progree]

24. The source is the Daily Record. MSN.com is merely hosting the article amongst hundreds from a wide variety of news

sources, just like Google News and Yahoo News and multiple other such sites do. But, yeah, shame on MSN.com too (re: the headline saying it sunk, when nothing in the article indicates that it did, and that it is expected (by Kim Jong Un) to be fully repaired before the June Plenary meeting. Something that sunk would need tons of equipment replaced.)

I wish people posting these articles would prioritize the source of the article, not the hosting site. Some do "Daily Record via MSN"

The Daily Record is a Scottish national tabloid newspaper based in Glasgow, per quick Google search

[riversedge]

25. nbc: In a rare public admission of failure, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described the accident involving the

Kim Jong Un watches as North Korea's newest warship falls off dry dock

In a rare public admission of failure, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described the accident involving the 5,000-ton destroyer as a “criminal act.”

https://nbcnews.com/world/asia/new-north-korean-warship-damaged-launch-ceremony-leader-kim-looks-rcna208425 via @nbcnews

Link to tweet

[progree]

28. An interesting tidbit from your source (NBC), "likely side-launched ... a method not previously observed in N.K."

The U.S.-based website 38 North said last week that North Korea was preparing to launch the second destroyer and that it was “likely be side-launched from the quay, a method not previously observed in North Korea.”

“The use of this launch method could be one of necessity, as the quay where the ship is being built does not have an incline,” it said in a report.

[nitpicked]

27. From BBC

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39xzn970pyo

(snip)
Parts of the 5,000-ton destroyer's bottom were crushed, tipping the vessel off balance, state media reported.

Kim, who was present at the launch, has ordered the ship be restored before a key party meeting in June, and for those involved in designing the ship to be held responsible for the incident which he said "severely damaged the dignity and pride of our nation in an instant."

State media reports did not mention any casualties or injuries as a result of the incident.
(snip)

[marble falls]

29. Simple mistake: someone forgot to but the cork in it.

[twodogsbarking]

30. A casket has been purchased for the family member responsible.

[progree]

31. North Korean ship lying sideways in the water - Public Affairs Director, South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/north-korean-warship-lying-sideways-in-the-water-after-botched-launch/vi-AA1FfOx6

It's a 43 second video that has nothing more than the Director speaking in Korean (presumably) with English captioning, so don't look for any picture of the ship.

[republianmushroom]

33. OOPS !

embarrassing.

[Torchlight]

36. A tasty entree to the full dinner during the Washington 6/14 parade

The American Ministry of You Better Enjoy This Spectacle or Else! is currently taking notes on how little Kim massages the problem.

[Canada Kid]

38. Who forgot the plug in the bottom of the boat?

Countless military personnel, ship engineers, mechanics, dock workers, etc., will be taking swimming lessons at depths of 10 fathoms and more in the next few days.

[Brother Buzz]

40. No ship is safe when the Drain Plug Mafia is in port.