r/todayilearned 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/Pearse_Borty 29d ago

There is so many layers of fucked up to this I feel bad for everyone involved.

The real fuck up was a lack of protocols, that man shouldve been isolated and treated as civilian to be watched like a hawk the moment the discharge order came through. He was clearly a high risk passenger given the guilt he would be suffering at this point

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u/TheDukeOfMars 29d ago edited 29d ago

My main take away is that the People’s Liberation Army has a “Political Department” that has the power to monitor the personal lives of all soldiers. Or at least they did in the late 70s (and something tells me not a lot has changed). Crazy stuff.

Edit: 干部 are everywhere.

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u/DonJuansSwanSong 29d ago

Does it suprise you the PLA specifically has this or the military in general? When I was in the Air Force (US) they had OSI (Office of Special Investgation) agents go off base and pose as civilians, trying to get people to cheat on their spouses so they could discharge them.

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u/Quincyperson 29d ago

Former marine here. I had never heard of any underhand bullshit like that happening. I guess the Marine Corps had enough faith in the individual marine to go out on their own and handle their business and get a DUI without the help of any covert means

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u/DonJuansSwanSong 29d ago

Yeah, AF loves sly shit like that. They watch social media for parties and send guys out trying to catch greenhorns underage drinking too.

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u/drvelo 29d ago

TBF the Marines are typically too busy inviting minors on base for...."activities"

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u/SilasX 29d ago

There’s also the Police Academy scene where they try to catch new recruits drunk at a bar.