Photos Show Confrontation Between USS Decatur and a Chinese Navy Warship in South China Sea

[Dennis Donovan]

https://gcaptain.com/photos-show-confrontation-between-uss-decatur-and-chinese-navy-warship-in-disputed-south-china-sea/



gCaptain has just obtained photos showing a confrontation involving the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Decatur and a Chinese Navy warship in the disputed South China Sea over the weekend.

The U.S. Navy confirmed the incident on Tuesday, accusing China’s navy of conducting an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver” that nearly led to a collision as the U.S. destroyer was underway “in the vicinity” of Gaven Reef in the Spratly Islands on Sunday, September 30.

According to a Navy spokesman, during the incident, the Chinese warship “approached within 45 yards of Decatur’s bow, after which Decatur maneuvered to prevent a collision.”

As was reported over the weekend, the USS Decatur on Sunday conducted the U.S. Navy’s latest freedom of navigation operation in the South China Sea, coming within 12 nautical miles of the Gaven and Johnson Reefs claimed by China.

China issued a statement Tuesday accusing the U.S. of violating its “indisputable sovereignty” over the South China Sea islands. “We strongly urge the U.S. side to immediately correct its mistake and stop such provocative actions to avoid undermining China-U.S. relations and regional peace and stability,” a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said Tuesday in a statement.

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45yds (135ft) is pretty close given the lengths of the ships involved are only 500(ish) ft long!

[sdfernando]

1. Extremely dangerous move

ships don't turn on a dime. This could have resulted in a bad collision and fatalities wouldn't have been out of the question.

[denbot]

2. It used to happen back in my day.

Our ship swapped paint with a Kashin Class Destroyer.

The crew wanted nothing more than to send that fucker to the bottom, but it was not our call.

[onethatcares]

3. freedom of navigation.

why do I get this strange feeling it only applies to U.S. warships?

Fuck, our Coast Guard boards boats in South American waters .

I guess it's all Orwellian now.

[Submariner]

4. And you can bet there are Chinese and U.S. submarines in the neighborhood

watching and listening to all that is happening on the surface. It's time to play chicken-of-the-sea again.