Human torpedos used for ship strike

Doubts are vanishing and accuses are flying straight towards the top...

South Korean ship sunk by crack squad of 'human torpedoes'

A South Korean warship was destroyed by an elite North Korean suicide squad of 'human torpedoes' on the express orders of the regime's leader, Kim Jong-il, according to military intelligence reports.

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Fast escalation ahead?

Hmmm, this is bad news.

I'm pleased as punch that ATS seems to be keeping up with "military intelligence" though.

What next? Suicide torpedoes - check. False flag?

NK is the obvious, but who has to gain by false accusations in the region?
China?

I really wish they'd come up with a better name for those things.. I read the thread title, had images of people being shot out of cannons dancing in my head and couldn't figure out how a human being could travel through water fast enough to even put a dent in the side of a ship. And yes I do feel kinda silly now for even having that thought, let alone trying to figure that one out.

Back to the OP, if it's not one thing it's another. NK can deny this particular attack all they like, I'm rather inclined to believe they did do it if only because of all of the threats over the years. It's only a matter of time before the situation between North and South Korea explodes (again) and things like this will only speed it up.

Originally posted by boondock-saint
I still dont think NK had anything to do with this.

Human torpedos are WAY to sophisticated for
NK Navy.

There are only a handful of countries in the world
that could pull this feat off.

a few that come to mind are:

Capable ::::::

China
Russia
Britain
France
USA
Israel

it's a very short list.

Now factor in which one of those countries above
want WW3 ???

Motive :::::::

Israel

Anybody remember USS Liberty ???
ring any bells ???

I don't know about the other countries, but, you can cross the US off the list. With ROV technology and fiber optic wire guided torpedos there is no need to have a human at risk.

I want to know why Italy isn't on your list? They were pretty successful with their "Chariots" in WWII.

With the proper equipment a rebreather can keep a diver underwater indefinately. If there is a supply of oxygen and the CO2 absorbant chemicals can be changed out. It would be very easy to build that into a mini sub. The batteries on a mini sub would give off enough heat that it could be pumped through a dry suit to keep the divers warm. This would extend their time to possibly a day or two.

As far as suicide divers go, who's to say that they are suicidal? If you tell them that they have a couple of hours after arming the bomb to get away but you really have it fused for instant detonation so that one of your divers can't be taken prisoner. I can see NK doing that.

The main reason why I think that this didn't happen is that these "human torpedos" are slow. 3 to 5 knots is about all they can manage. This is fine for attacking ships in harbor, but about useless on the open seas.

www.newworldorderreport.com...

According to one high-ranking North Korean defector, the North formed suicide attack squads in each branch of the military after the country's leader Kim Jong-il said during the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that no military in the world can defeat an army that can carry out suicide bombings.

The suicide attack squads are known as the "invincibles" in the Air Force, "bombs" in the Army and "human torpedoes" in the Navy. North Korea is said to place special emphasis on the naval squads. It operates a brigade of suicide attack squads in its East Sea and West Sea fleets and they are considered key to overcoming North Korea's inferior conventional military power.

That's a curious perspective.

The first suicide bombers in modern times were the kamikazes, and while they inflicted heavy damage, it wasn't enough to win.

But it's about unconventional warfare.

I agree with the others in that I wouldn't bet money it was a suicide attack. might have killed the pilot as he tried to swim away...

What I want to know is how you talk someone into becoming a human torpedo?

"Look it's real easy just sit right here on this explosive filled mini sub, drive it over to the ship and push the big red button! Oh and by the way, just how fast and far can you swim?"

Originally posted by DaddyBare
I agree with the others in that I wouldn't bet money it was a suicide attack. might have killed the pilot as he tried to swim away...

What I want to know is how you talk someone into becoming a human torpedo?

"Look it's real easy just sit right here on this explosive filled mini sub, drive it over to the ship and push the big red button! Oh and by the way, just how fast and far can you swim?"

hence my comparison to Col Steiner and his men in my OP! Thats what they were doing in a penal colony on aldernay i believe? They probably thought could swim far enough away but the concussion wave killed them. Or have i been reading too many Jack Higgins books! Actually, i think all knowledge about underwater explosions coems from reading Dirk Pitt novels!

But if NK HAS indoctrinated suicide squads then its a really scary thought... Hes nuts enough to send them out anywhere he fancies. Sort of blows racial profiling out of the water (excuse the pun) doesnt it?

Originally posted by Dynamitrios

How can a superduper equipped ship not have seen a slow # like that miles before the impact?

[edit on 22-4-2010 by Dynamitrios]

Isnt that the whole point of these things though? If they are that small then they may well have been picked up on sonar and dismissed as dolphins or whales. Or even just a log floating out there. Big shiney boat like that probably wasnt worried about something that small

Originally posted by harryhaller
Hmmm, this is bad news.

I'm pleased as punch that ATS seems to be keeping up with "military intelligence" though.

What next? Suicide torpedoes - check. False flag?

NK is the obvious, but who has to gain by false accusations in the region?
China?

I'm not. they could do a lot better. I have "south korean torpedo" on tickers for 12 hours now. Yet no links yet.

Except that:

english.yonhapnews.co.kr...

Home National Politics/Diplomacy
Politics/Diplomacy
Twitter Send 2010/04/22 17:21 KST
(LEAD) Military intelligence immediately suspected N. Korea in ship sinking: source


SEOUL, April 22 (Yonhap) -- Military intelligence authorities immediately assumed it was North Korea that sank a South Korean naval ship last month, as the communist nation has strengthened training in guerrilla warfare since last year, a senior military source said Thursday.

Those suspicions grew stronger last week when a chief South Korean investigator, after an initial examination of the vessel's salvaged wreckage, blamed an unidentified "external explosion" as the most likely cause.

However, no concrete evidence, such as fragments of a torpedo, have been found yet.

No fragments of torpedoes yet. I think that rules out possibility of a larger contraption used for a suicide attack. There would be definitely visible fragments there at least until now. Or N. Koreans are not revealing details.

A team of investigators, including experts from the United States and Australia, are trying to determine what caused the sinking.

Now people should check this out:

On Monday, Defense Minister Kim Tae-young also told parliament that South Korea suspected a North Korean attack right after the sinking, and that's why a nearby warship opened fire at an unidentified object speeding northward, though the object was later found to be a flock of birds.

North Korea's involvement has been suspected from the beginning as the site of the sinking lies near where the two Koreas fought bloody gun battles in 1999, 2002 and most recently in November last year.

Don't these guys have sonars or something? A 1200 ton naval ship patrolling near borders with no sonar?

Guess they did have after all:

Service history

Cheonan was launched in November 1989 from Korea Tacoma Marine Industries.[5] The ship's primary mission was coastal patrol, with an emphasis on anti-submarine operations.[1] The Cheonan was one of the ships involved in the First Battle of Yeonpyeong in 1999.[6] The ship had been scheduled for decommissioning in 2019.[5]

Armament

The ship's armament consisted of:[2][1]

* Boeing AGM-84 Harpoon missiles
* Two Otobreda 76 mm/62 compact guns (OTO Melara)
* Two Bofors 40 mm/70 guns
* Six torpedoes
* Twelve Mark 9 depth charges

en.wikipedia.org...

We have an antisubmarine ship got hit by something stealthy and another support ship nearby only identifying a flock of birds..
I think they got a big problem here..

[edit on 22-4-2010 by spacebot]

reply to post by expatwhite


So I was just thinking of this. It could be possible for a country that has technology to build a tiny sub that is remote controled and has room for one or two passengers, kill one or two North Koreans and put them inside the mini sub, bring it right up to the South Korean ship and blow it up so they both sink and when they find the mini sub it would have the two North Koreans inside. Just a thought....

After delay, China calls Cheonan a ‘tragedy’

Breaking nearly a month of silence, China this week called the sinking of the South Korean naval ship Cheonan “a tragedy” and hoped for a thorough investigation.

On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu called the incident “a tragedy” and said China had already sent condolences through bilateral channels.

joongangdaily.joins.com...

Originally posted by JanusFIN

After delay, China calls Cheonan a ‘tragedy’

Breaking nearly a month of silence, China this week called the sinking of the South Korean naval ship Cheonan “a tragedy” and hoped for a thorough investigation.

On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu called the incident “a tragedy” and said China had already sent condolences through bilateral channels.

joongangdaily.joins.com...

With recent comments from China, it looks like they are finally washing their hands of NK and that loon thats in charge. They wouldnt "hope" for a thorough investigation if they were backing NK. They would keep quiet. Trouble is, might push kim jong to do something even dafter if hes feeling more and more isolated?