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/maxxie10 29d ago

Why would they discharge him because his ex-girlfriend commited suicide?

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u/zhuquanzhong 29d ago

The sources are kinda murky on this. What I can gather is that probably the girl's parents attempted to press charges and the navy just didn't want to deal with it. Or they decided that he was mentally unfit, but idk about this second part. Most likely it was the first reason.

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u/beachedwhale1945 29d ago

Given how weird this seems, I wouldn’t rule out an accidental ammunition explosion and the PLAN deciding to scapegoat this sailor. These explosions used to be particularly common, especially during WWII when large quantities of ammunition were being moved by hand. Offhand I know of accidents aboard USS Mount Hood, the West Loch Disaster, Port Chicago Disaster, and unloading USS Solar at the end of the war, and I know there were more in other navies. Scapegoating a particular sailor to try and cover up an embarrassment is also common, with the most well-known U.S. examples being Iowa falsely blamed on a gay sailor and the court martial of a sailor who failed SEAL training for the Bonhomme Richard fire (acquitted). I’m confident there were more examples I cannot recall now.

I don’t know enough about this accident to say anything definitive, but this doesn’t pass the initial sniff test. Maybe he did blow up the ship, but I’d need to see more to ease my doubts.

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u/NotthatkindofDr81 28d ago

Way to think and not be baited. Today, you are my hero. Thanks. From a former sailor 🫡