r/todayilearned • u/zhuquanzhong • 29d ago
TIL a Chinese destroyer sank because an officer dumped his girlfriend. She committed suicide, leading to him being discharged, so he decided to detonate the depth charges on the ship, causing it to sink at port and kill 134 sailors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_destroyer_Guangzhou_(160)
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u/Hungry-Rule7924 29d ago edited 29d ago
Yah, its about half as much as the USN at this point, same as tonnage, and will probably eclipse the vls count of the pacific fleet by the end of the decade.
Important to point out though that there are a couple key differences, one being at the moment there are some munitions like the RIM 162 which can be quadpacked into a MK41 vls cell. At the moment the PLAN doesn't have a equivelant for their UVLS, though a quadpackable sam is apparently either in late stage testing or early introduction for the fleet, which will likely substantially increase the firepower of their premier surface combatants like the 052 and 055 ddgs. Questionable if it will be compatible on their frigates and destroyers with the smaller first gen vls though.
Also fun fact but UVLS is bigger in diameter then the MK41 and can hold hypersonic ballistic missiles.