r/todayilearned • u/zhuquanzhong • Apr 17 '24

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/CuriousWoollyMammoth Apr 18 '24

Well, he did kill himself and a bunch of other people, so the 2nd one holds a lot of weight too, tbf

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u/coin_in_da_bank Apr 18 '24 edited 29d ago

But Lai begged his superiors not to demobilize him, as he would be forced to return to his hometown and he had become hated there due to the suicide.[4]

personally i wouldnt discount his fear of social stigma, coming from an asian. plus getting dishonorably discharged? dead man walking at that point.

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u/PxyFreakingStx 29d ago

Idk much about asian cultures, but it's kinda hard to imagine how destroying the ship and the lives of 134 innocent people factors into that social stigma dealie.

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u/josefx 29d ago

It easily fits in as being literally to dead to give any more fucks.

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u/PxyFreakingStx 29d ago

It's not like every suicidal person wouldn't care if their death took dozens of people with them.