Life on a Small North Korean Submarine

Background

Living in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is strictly regulated under a legal system based on the Prussian Legal System the Best (according to 19th c. Japan) and Communist legal theory. Credible facts about everyday life in North Korean have not flowed as freely as cheerful claims by its leaders.  Credible facts about the DPRK's military have been even more cloistered.  According to the CIA's The World Factbook [color emphasis mine], 18 is presumed to be the legal minimum age for compulsory military service; 16-17 is the presumed legal minimum age for voluntary service (2012).

We wonder what crewing may be like for North Korea's submarine sailors.  Intriguing clues are available from public sources outside of the DPRK in two rare cases that came to the attention of external authorities and news media.

Example One:  Penalty for participation in spy sub's failure

JUNE 27, 1998   9 North Koreans Dead in Submarine

SEOUL— The bodies of nine North Korean sailors and agents were discovered Friday inside a captured North Korean midget submarine, shot and killed in what South Korean officials called an apparent murder-suicide.

Officials said there were signs of a struggle inside the submarine, as four North Korean agents apparently shot themselves to death after first killing five sailors.

South Korean authorities also said there were indications that the vessel, which was captured after becoming entangled in a fisherman's net off the South Korean coast Monday, had been on a spy mission, leaving them divided about how much of an issue to make of this latest North Korean incursion. 

North Korea's Version of Events
The submarine sank as it was being towed into port, it was unclear if this was as a result of damage or a deliberate scuttling by the crew.^[3] On 23 June the Korean Central News Agency admitted that a submarine had been lost in a training accident.

Later, 
On 25 June the submarine was salvaged [not by North Korea] from a depth of approximately 100 feet (30 m) and the bodies of 9 crewmen were recovered, 5 sailors had apparently been murdered while 4 agents had apparently committed suicide.^[5] The presence of South Korean drinks suggested that the crew had completed an espionage mission.^[6] Log books found in the submarine showed that it had infiltrated South Korean waters on a number of previous occasions.^[7]  The bodies of the members of submarine crew were subsequently buried in the Cemetery for North Korean and Chinese Soldiers.^[8]
 

Example Two:  Death benefit to families of submariners 

March 11, 2016 - USNI NEWS |  U.S. Official: North Korean Submarine is Missing, Presumed Sunk

Subsequently, a South Korean news outlet has claimed the sub was sunk and "improved housing" awarded to the families of the sailors lost. (This news has subsequently been removed from the internet). Draw your own conclusions.

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Answers to Submarine Q.O.T.W. from 14 NOV 2016

Related information, photo(s) and links for questions are found in the original posting.

Q & A: 

"In 1968, A US Nuclear Submarine Went On a Russia Super Secret Spy Mission (And It Never Came Back)" by Kyle Mizokami

1 - An unusually high number of submarines vanished in 1968, including three (3) non-U.S. subs. Identify 3 of the non-U.S. subs sunk in 1968 (by names and navies). ANS: The Israeli submarine Dakar (69 lost); The French submarine Minerve (52 dead); and, The Soviet submarine K-129 (98 lost).

2 - The U.S. sub which sank in 1968 "was in a very poor state of preservation", according to its commanding officer.
- a) Who was the commanding officer? ANS: Cdr. Francis Atwood Slattery  
- b) Some of its crew had derisively referred to the sub as (fill in blank) USS Scrap Iron.
- c) Name the vessel's major (most restrictive) known defect before its 1968 departure on a secret Russian spy mission. ANS:  Leaking valves caused the submarine to be restricted to  less than half its nominal test depth. It had “chronic problems” with its hydraulics, its emergency blow system didn’t work and emergency seawater shutoff valves had not yet been decentralized. source
 
3 -  The U.S. Navy’s report on the U.S. sub incident is inconclusive. Several malfunction theories—and at least one conspiracy have arisen to explain the loss of the ship and its ninety-nine crew, but all lack hard evidence. What is the leading conspiracy theory?  ANS: The leading conspiracy theory is that the Scorpion was somehow caught up in some kind of Cold War skirmish, and that the nearby Soviet flotilla had sunk the sub.
 
4 -  What major fact issue tends to confound the leading conspiracy theory? ANS: There is scant explanation for how a Soviet task force with only two combatants could manage to kill the relatively advanced USS Scorpion.  
 
5 -  Does it now appear at all likely that there would ever be a conclusive explanation for the loss of the U.S. sub in 1968? ANS: No. 
 
6 - What has been the convention (minimum average time) for submarine secrets to be divulged by various navies (in Vigilis's opinion)? ANS:  30 years.

7- How many years have already elapsed since May 1968? ANS: 48 years
 
8- BONUS QUESTION:  Where is the longest submarine memorial in the U.S. now located? ANS: The entire length of Route 9 in Saratoga County, NY (a fifty-four-mile stretch) has been named the U.S. Submarine Veterans Memorial Highway.  The county is home to the Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit where American sailors learn how to operate nuclear-powered submarines. The New York state submarine veterans memorial honors the fifty-four submarines lost during war and the Cold War. 

Submarines are always silent and strange.  

Gratuitous Fractures in Submarine World's Traditional Silence

Note:  Molten Eagle has emphasized some portions of quotations  with color and/or underlining:

( 1 ) 

Britain - Strategy Page |  10 SEP 16
Morale: How The Internet Cripples SSBN Operations

"In Britain the Royal Navy has found it impossible to attract enough qualified sailors to operate all its nuclear submarines, especially the SSBNs (nuclear powered subs carrying ballistic missiles). The reason is that SSBNs stay at sea for 90 days at a time wanting for a brief message to fire its missiles at pre-arranged targets. The problem is that too many otherwise qualified sailors and officers are not willing to spend 90 days without Internet access.  This shortage has already reduced the number of days British SSBNs can spend at sea."  

( 2 )  

U.S. - The Seattle Times Opinion by David Hall and Leonard Eiger | 27 SEP 16
Next president has a nuclear option: Scrap the program 

"HAVE you seen the Seattle bus ads?  They read: “20 miles west of Seattle is the largest concentration of deployed nuclear weapons in the U.S.” ...

One hydrogen bomb deployed from Naval Base Kitsap on Hood Canal could wipe out a large city like Seattle and make the land uninhabitable for centuries. Look up the presentation “One city, one bomb” to understand the devastating potential of modern nuclear weapons."

*******

The item below is not submarine-related. However, U.S. submarine aficionados may  appreciate the obvious contrast in: (1) The speed of removing Navy Bios for "loss of confidence" submarine COs with the still live link for the Rear Admiral mentioned below; as well as (2) The guilty plea of an *NCIS Supervisory Special Agent.

( 3 ) 

U.S.  - The FCPA Blog  | 16 SEP 16
Two new indictments in Navy's ‘Fat Leonard’ bribery scandal 

A total of 16 individuals have now been charged in connection with the scandal. Of those, 11 are current or former U.S. Navy officials.

Most of the Navy personnel have been charged with taking bribes from Francis in exchange for passing to him sensitive information about ship movements and schedules. Some were charged with lying to investigators about their relationship with Francis and his company.

They are:
*Admiral Robert Gilbeau
Captain (ret.) Michael Brooks
Commander Bobby Pitts
Lt. Commander Gentry Debord
Captain Daniel Dusek
Commander Michael Misiewicz
Lt. Commander Todd Malaki
Commander Jose Luis Sanchez
Petty Officer First Class Daniel Layug
*NCIS Supervisory Special Agent John Beliveau, and
Paul Simpkins, a former DoD civilian employee who oversaw contracting in Singapore.

*Gilbeau, Dusek, Misiewicz, Malaki, *Beliveau, Sanchez, Layug, and Simpkins have pleaded guilty.


Submarines are always silent and strange.

Geopolitical Games with Submarine Pawns

Case #1  U.K.  v. Spain  (Gibraltar)

Background:  26 Jun, 2016 | UK sent a nuclear submarine to Gibraltar yesterday in a show of force against Spain. The move was seen as a response to the Spanish who, emboldened by the shock Brexit result, had demanded joint sovereignty over the Rock on the very same day. 

“There will be no discussion on joint sovereignty – the UK Government has made that clear.”  - source

Interim:
Damaged nuclear-powered submarine HMS Ambush still in port following Gibraltar collision

Foreground:
The chief minister of HM Government of Gibraltar said in a statement last week that "Gibraltar has proudly served as a port of call to provide shelter to the Royal Navy for centuries and this latest visit is no different. HMS Ambush is therefore as welcome today on the Rock as ever."  source

Case #2  U.S.  v.  N.K.  (DPRK)

Background:  July 6th | U.S. sanctions North Korean leader Kim Jong Un

"The United States imposed economic sanctions Wednesday on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and other government officials for their role in human rights abuses in the isolated country, particularly the running of forced labor camps and the torture and executions of dissidents.

The unusual but not unprecedented step of blacklisting a head of state is part of a concerted effort to step up pressure on Pyongyang that began in March when the U.N. Security Council and then the United States imposed harsh restrictions on trade with North Korea over its testing of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Interim:
July 26 | North Korea reportedly constructing new larger submarine pens

North Korea has accused the United States of declaring war after Kim Jong Un was put on its list of sanctioned people.  Today

Foreground:  Special Operations Command has contracted Lockheed Martin to provide midget submarines to support US Navy SEALs

The DCS is strictly a transportation submarine, capable of carrying six or more SEALs. The most recent prototype can travel up to 60 nautical miles at a depth of 190 feet.

Mini-submarines are used to infiltrate hostile areas with accessible coastlines. SEALs reportedly infiltrated Somalia in 2003 using mini-subs. They would also be useful in countries such as North Korea, Pakistan, China, or even Russia.

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Latest Court News - No Submarine Evidence (Photo)

Known Timeline (2004 - 2016)

2004 - French trawler BUGALED BREIZH sinks on January 15th with the loss of its (5-man) crew.

2007 - British and Dutch submarines were cleared by French court officials of any involvement in the sinking.

2008 - Inquiry concludes a nuclear submarine snagging the boat's trawl was the "highly probable cause" of the sinking, but the judges recommended the investigation be wound up, with no guilty party traced.

2010 - [April] A French appeal court relaunches investigation to try to identify what US submarines were in the vicinity at the time.

2010 - [May]   No "Submarine Expert" Would Even Ask: Story Unravelled   Molten Eagle's observed, "Salles is hoping that the transformational Obama administration will share more details about any subs in the area of casualty on 15 January 2004. Is he correct?" Note: Molten Eagle has always said, "Submarines are always silent and strange."

2014 - The inquiry was eventually thrown out by a court in Nantes in 2014.

2015 - Appeal court in Rennes rules there was no evidence that a submarine was involved or that it was a fishing accident.

2016 - France's Court of Cassation, France's court of final appeal for civil and criminal matters, said there was no evidence to support the claim, nor that it was a fishing accident. The latest decision of France's highest judicial court backs up the ruling by the appeal court in Rennes in May 2015. 

Photo: Salvaged Trawler BUGALED BREIZH 

Note the circled hull depression (which was evident on port side, as well).  The depressions have been explained in the opinion of some experts [translated] as follows [color emphasis mine]:

"4 / The hull of BUGALED BREIZH presents a depression of the shell, on both sides, at the fish hold. It is the sign of a quick drive to the bottom, causing the implosion of the fish hold remained closed by the water pressure. If classic shipwreck by water such as water seeps everywhere, but the process takes time and leaves the crew of survival."  five more expert opinions (untranslated) here

When state security is involved, evidential protocols regarding "Submarines are always silent and strange". 

Strange Submarine News and Quote of the Week (14 JUN 16)

- 1 -

Recall Sweden's 2014 Russian submarine hunt:  BBC's 60 second video Review

Molten Eagle speculation had remained:  It is more likely, in our experience, that a much needed Swedish Military training excercise, a PR recruiting effort, or a combination of both, have been conducted with renewed world attention.      and now we learn...

Today's [June 13, 2016] NEWS UPDATE indicates we appear to have been correct all along:
"A sonar signature, which Swedish military claimed to be crucial evidence of a foreign submarine’s presence near Stockholm during the 2014 hunt, came from a 'Swedish object,' the country’s defense minister has admitted.

Peter Hultqvist would not go into details about the source of the signal, but said the military reconsidered their assessment of its nature in September 2015, he told Sveriges Radio."  {The Sveriges Radio AB Swedish Language article is consistent}

- 2 -

Sub-Ocean Geophysical Catastrophe (Pick the more likely story)   

February 13, 2016 - CNN  | The quake-maker you've never heard of: Cascadia

• The Cascadia is capable of delivering a 9.0-magnitude quake. The fault can deliver a quake with 30 times more energy than the more famous San Andreas 

• The Cascadia runs from British Columbia's Vancouver Island California's Cape Mendocino

• "...and then it generates a tsunami at the same time, which the side-by-side motion of the San Andreas can't do." - Prof. Chris Goldfinger, Oregon State University.

June 13, 2016 - PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) | Robot submarine streams live from ocean off Oregon coast
A robot submarine is roaming around the ocean floor off the Oregon Coast in an effort to detect any geological activity underground, and researchers are offering a live stream of the underwater view.  The mission off the Pacific Northwest is intended to find “methane seeps,” where the natural greenhouse gas is released from the ocean floor along the Cascadia subduction.
 
Another Russian exploration to locate ideal detonation sites to trigger earthquakes, or innocent scientific curiosity? Hint: See research efforts (Dr. Robert Ballard and the Corps of Exploration)   

- 3 - 

June 2016 | theatlantic.com  GPS Doesn't Work Underwater
So the U.S. Navy is developing a new kind of system—built specifically for drone submarines.

POSYDON wants to install acoustic speakers in buoys throughout the ocean, where they will broadcast the time like GPS satellites. “They will be heard across very, very wide swaths of ocean,” he told me. “And now our underwater vehicles will be able to listen to those acoustic signals and measure the time difference of arrivals of each one of them.”

There’s one big problem. GPS radio signals are electromagnetic waves, so they move at the speed of light—always, through any atmospheric medium. This makes it extremely straightforward to back-compute the location of a beacon from its signal.  

M.E. Comment: Would not laser emissions from orbiting satellites provide faster, broader coverage?  

- 4 -

May 18, 2016 - Military Times | CHEYENNE, Wyo. Tribute to a Navy vet served on captured German WWII sub

Toward the war's end, one of these U-boats, U-858, was sent to wreak havoc along the east coast of the United States. But two weeks after Hitler's suicide, on May 14, 1945, U-858 became the first Nazi submarine to surrender to U.S. forces.

It's a boat that Chuck Kline remembers well. That's because, for nine months after its surrender, Kline served aboard U-858.

Kline, now 93, is one of a dwindling number of American sailors who served aboard submarines during World War II, and the last to come from Wyoming. (more)

Submarines are always silent and strange.

Tuesday Submarine Tidbits 15 MAR 16

Background

The latest M.E. posting related to each topic is linked by (item number).

The Tidbits

(1)

"S. Korean military refuses to confirm on missing DPRK submarine"    South Korea's military on Monday refused confirmation on a Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) submarine, which United States media reported had gone missing for days.   ... Seoul's Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-Kyun told a regular press briefing that the intelligence authorities of both South Korea and the United States maintain a position that they cannot confirm the relevant report.

M.E. Comment (a):  Obviously, neither S.Korea, the U.S. or other suspect nations (China, Japan, Russia, [Some rogue element of DPRK,s own military) can be foolish enough to state conclusively the fate of Kim Jong Un's missing sub (an 8-man,  70-ton Yugo class sub used in espionage operations, according to Yonhap.) without raising suspicion of their own guilt in the matter. However, they are free to speculate in a manner that disparages North Korea's readiness.  For EXAMPLE:  "Because these subs are very old, they are susceptible to mechanical breakdowns and due to North Korea's economic situation, it is not likely that they have been well maintained," the military official told Yonhap.
M.E. Comment (b):  An 8-man espionage sub would be a perfect target for a counter-espionage operation.

(2)

"Iran says it recovers information from US sailors' devices" TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran has retrieved thousands of pages of information from devices used by U.S. Navy sailors who were briefly detained in January, the country's state television reported Tuesday. The report quotes Gen. Ali Razmjou, a naval commander in the powerful Revolutionary Guard, as saying that information filling about 13,000 pages was retrieved from laptops, GPS devices and maps.

M.E. Comment (a):  U.S. taxpayers should have expected this administration to have fired another admiral (or general) by now for his poor planning / execution of the embarrassing capture 2 months ago of ten U.S. sailors, including one female.  No such firing at the U.S. Navy's Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, which is responsible for American naval forces in the Gulf, nor in a higher authority has yet come to pass. Obviously then, the quick "catch and release" may have been a nefariously pre-arranged excuse to either plant false information with an enemy, or to share accurate information with Iran's government.  

M.E. Comment (b): Hmmm!  The truth is out there, but acts of espionage are typically not divulged for at least 3 decades.  So, is this why no one has fallen on his sword?

(3)

"2 plane parts to be examined in Australia for links to MH370" KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's transport minister says two plane pieces found in Mozambique will be sent to Australia to verify if they belong to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Monday both pieces will then be sent to Australia to be examined by an international investigation team. The plane vanished March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The search is ongoing in the southern Indian Ocean.

M.E. Comment:  Forsenics is an intriguing process, and as time progresses more and more Boeing 777 variants like the MH-370 (a 777-200ER) have been delivered worldwide (1372 to date).  If undisclosed evidence of foul play were not involved, the course of the forensics would not involve such inordinate delays. At this stage, M.E. cannot be critical of the process or non-disclosure of actual evidence in hand.  Why? Remember what was stated in (2) above: "acts of espionage are typically not divulged for at least 3 decades".  

Submarines are always silent and strange.