A senior U.S. defense official said Thursday that China’s latest nuclear-powered attack sub sank in May or June while sitting in a shipyard near Wuhan, a baffling and embarrassing disaster the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has kept secret until now.
The news that China’s new sub went to the bottom – possibly with nuclear fuel on board – was broken by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on Thursday.
The defense official who spoke to the WSJ said the lost sub was the first of China’s new Zhou-class nuclear submarines, developed in a bid to reduce America’s enormous advantage in submarine warfare. The Zhou design includes a unique X-shaped stern intended to give the vessel greater maneuverability.
Satellite images showed the Zhou sub, easily identified by its distinctive tail, docked at the shipyard in early March. The sub was reportedly undergoing final outfitting before heading to sea.
By June it was gone, with no sign of ever having sailed out of port. Analysts noticed a cluster of floating recovery cranes had been assembled around the pier, including equipment specialized for recovering oil from the water.
The WSJ’s source in the Defense Department said it was “not surprising” the PLAN would conceal the sinking of their prized first-in-class attack sub.
“In addition to the obvious questions about training standards and equipment quality, the incident raises deeper questions about the PLA’s internal accountability and oversight of China’s defense industry, which has long been plagued by corruption,” the source said.
“Can you imagine a U.S. nuclear submarine sinking in San Diego and the government hushes it up and doesn’t tell anybody about it? I mean, Holy cow!” exclaimed former U.S. submarine officer and Center for a New American Security senior fellow Thomas Shugart, the first analyst to notice China’s new submarine was missing.
Shugart concluded from his study of commercial satellite photos that China was able to recover the drowned sub, but it would take “a lot of work” to make it operational again.
“The whole boat would be full of water. You’d have to clean out all the electronics. The electric motors may need to be replaced,” he said.
The PLAN and other agencies of the Chinese government refused to discuss the incident, what caused the sub to sink, or whether there were any casualties. Satellite photos gave no indication the Chinese were searching the water for radiation leaks. It is possible the vessel was not loaded with nuclear fuel before it sank.
If the sinking of the Zhou-class sub is confirmed, it would be the second submarine China lost over the span of a year. In August 2023, a Chinese sub attempting to pass through the Taiwan Strait apparently crashed into a “chain and anchor” submarine trap and sunk. China never acknowledged the incident, but Taiwanese officials said they believed the sunken-sub account in May.
