China’s naval ambitions have suffered a major blow after one of its newest nuclear-powered attack submarines sank earlier this year. The incident occurred at a shipyard near Wuhan in late May or early June and has remained largely concealed by Chinese authorities, adding to the country’s ongoing struggles.

The ill-fated submarine, the first of a new class of Chinese nuclear-powered vessels, was undergoing its final equipping before its planned launch at sea when the accident occurred. The exact details remain unclear, but reports indicate that large floating cranes were deployed in early June to salvage the submarine from the riverbed. The situation is a significant embarrassment for the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), the entity responsible for constructing the sub.

The vessel’s damage will take months to repair, delaying its deployment and dealing a blow to China’s aspirations to modernize and expand its nuclear submarine fleet.

The sinking of the submarine has fuelled criticism of corruption and inefficiency within the Chinese military and defence industry. As one of the first of its class, this submarine was part of China’s broader effort to challenge U.S. naval dominance, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region. The setback hampers these goals, not only delaying the expansion of China’s submarine force but also raising questions about the reliability of its defence manufacturing processes.

There are additional concerns regarding the potential for nuclear leaks and environmental consequences, given the nature of the vessel. While China has not released any official information on this front, the possibility of radiation hazards has raised alarm among analysts.

For the United States, the incident serves as a moment of both caution and reflection. The Pentagon considers China its principal long-term “pacing challenge” as it aims to keep up with China’s growing military might. This submarine mishap, however, reveals weaknesses in China’s defence infrastructure, potentially slowing its progress toward becoming a dominant maritime power. The U.S. has pointed to the incident as evidence of corruption and systemic issues plaguing China’s defence industry, giving it room to maintain its technological edge in undersea warfare.

Despite the setback for China, U.S. officials remain vigilant. The long-term threat posed by China’s expanding military capabilities continues to shape the U.S. defence strategy, particularly in the Indo-Pacific.

The sinking of submarines during construction is not unique to China. In 1969, the U.S. Navy faced a similar disaster when the USS Guitarro, a nuclear-powered attack submarine, sank at a shipyard in California due to construction errors. It took 32 months to fully repair and commission the vessel, a timeline that China’s military may face as it works to restore its sunken submarine.

While such setbacks are rare, they highlight the complexities of submarine design and construction. In both cases, these incidents delayed naval expansion plans, embarrassed government officials, and caused broader public scrutiny.

The sinking of China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine marks a significant setback in its naval ambitions. As the country seeks to grow its military influence, this incident underscores the challenges it faces in achieving its objectives. For now, the world’s focus remains on how China addresses this internal crisis and how it will impact the geopolitical landscape of maritime power in the coming years.

The Impact of Wind Farms in Queensland: Costs, Numbers, and Environmental Considerations

There are currently 3,365 wind turbines proposed for Queensland, delivering a nameplate capacity of approximately 22,874 MW. This number does not include additional wind farms that are in the planning stages but lack specific turbine quantities. For example, the proposed Proserpine Wind Farm will have over 200 turbines, making it reasonable to estimate that the total number of turbines planned in the state is already over 4,000.

However, given that wind turbines typically operate at a capacity factor of around 25%, we would need to double the number of turbines to approximately 6,600 in order to ensure electricity supply during summer nights when wind may be available. If Queensland experiences several windless nights, even with the proposed Eungella Pumped Hydro project, the grid could only sustain power for a limited number of hours.

To achieve true Net Zero, which involves removing carbon emissions from agriculture and the transport fleet, the state may need to install over 20,000 turbines. If there’s no wind, additional gas plants would be required to maintain energy supply. Furthermore, should Queensland pursue theoretical hydrogen energy, another 10,000 to 25,000 turbines may be needed—provided there is enough land with consistent wind conditions to support them.

While some wind farms in the southern part of the state are situated on cleared or mostly cleared land, many of the wind farms proposed from Gladstone northward are located in areas of high biodiversity. These locations are often characterized by untouched, rugged, and remote topography. Notably, the Chalumbin Wind Farm remains a point of contention, as it could reappear in the planning stages depending on who secures transmission capacity first.

The future of Queensland’s energy transition will showcase the trade-offs between renewable energy expansion and the preservation of some of the state’s best high-elevation refugia forests, especially in the areas north of Gladstone.

Cost Considerations: Each wind turbine can range from $3 million to $4 million, meaning that the current proposal of 3,365 turbines represents an investment between $10 billion and $13.5 billion. If the number of turbines increases to 6,600 or more, the total cost could climb to over $20 billion, with further investments needed if additional turbines are required for hydrogen production.

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As an elder, I have watched politics in Australia since I first voted at the age of 21 when in the Australian army and my interest increased after I retired at 55 and purchased my first PC in 1995.

Since arriving in Australia in my mid-teens there were, if I remember correctly, three political parties, Menzies Conservative-Liberal, the Country Party also conservative (non-urban voters) and the Australian Labor Party a socialist/communist with the Roman Catholic Church very much involved. There were strong religious opinions between the Catholics and other Christian churches after  WW2 (1948). The Liberal and Country Party was strong until  December 1972, when, the Labor Party under the Prime Ministership of Whitlam was voted in.

Australia was introduced to modern socialism! In hindsight 1972 was the tipping point for Australia and the introduction to disruptive unstable governance for Australia as socialist governments nationally and across all states and territories engulfed the nation, especially in the 21^st century.

I believe that politics in the English-speaking nation has now become very toxic between conservatism and socialism.

I have a fundamental understanding of socialism and I am a conservative due to my preferences and an anti-socialist since the mid-1960s, due to unionism and the ALP party actions during the Vietnam War.

My political conservative development strength in the past half of a century when splintered political parties and independent politics gained strength and the Liberals across Australia self-destructed because of internal factionalism and in 2015 Turnbull and the Liberal National Parliamentarians assassinated Abbott, I do not the Liberal Party but still a conservative and staunch anti-socialist.

So, how has socialism changed during my life?

I searched Google for answers because I believe that Christian Western Democracies globally are under threat of destruction because socialism in the English democracies is gaining greater power from alliances of extreme socialist political parties in Canada/USA the UK and Australia and this seems to be reinforced as explained in this link – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism –

For me, nationalism has been weakened in English democracies and with increased displacement and migration to the EU, the UK and Australia will divide us even more over the next few decades.

Do you have the same feelings?

Bob Buick

Mountain Creek Qld 4557

0428228425

[email protected]

www.bobbuick.com

Today we are packing our caravan and very early tomorrow morning we are heading north. We will be away until the 7^th November. I will continue to post daily if I have a good single. Please continue to send any stories or items of interest tome at [email protected] your info could save me research time.

Cheers

Ray

One day a man decided to retire.

He booked himself on a Caribbean cruise and proceeded to have the time of his life, that is, until the ship sank.

He soon found himself on an island with no other people, no supplies, nothing, only bananas and coconuts.

After about four months, he is lying on the beach one day when the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen rows up to the shore.

In disbelief, he asks, “Where did you come from? How did you get here?

She replies, “I rowed over from the other side of the island where I landed when my cruise ship sank.

Amazing,” he notes. “You were really lucky to have a rowboat wash up with you.

“Oh, this thing?” explains the woman. ” I made the boat out of some raw material I found on the island. The oars were whittled from gum tree branches.

I wove the bottom from palm tree branches, and the sides and stern came from a Eucalyptus tree.

“But, where did you get the tools?

“Oh, that was no problem,” replied the woman. ” On the south side of the island, a very unusual stratum of alluvial rock is exposed. I found that if I fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into ductile iron, and I used that to make tools and used the tools to make the hardware.

The guy is stunned.

“Let’s row over to my place,” she says “and I’ll give you a tour.” So, after a short time of rowing, she soon docks the boat at a small wharf. As the man looks to shore, he nearly falls off the boat.

Before him is a long stone walk leading to a cabin and tree house

While the woman ties up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp rope, the man can only stare ahead, dumb struck. As they walk into the house, she says casually, “It’s not much, but I call it home. Please sit down.

“Would you like a drink?

“No! No thank you,” the man blurts out, still dazed. “I can’t take another drop of coconut juice.

“Oh, it’s not coconut juice,” winks the woman. “I have a still. How would you like a Tropical Spritz?

Trying to hide his continued amazement, the man accepts, and they sit down on her couch to talk. After they exchange their individual survival stories, the woman announces, ” I’m going to slip into something more comfortable. Would you like to take a shower and shave? There’s a razor in the bathroom cabinet upstairs.

No longer questioning anything, the man goes upstairs into the bathroom. There, in the cabinet is a razor made from a piece of tortoise bone. Two shells honed to a hollow ground edge are fastened on to its end inside a swivel mechanism.

“This woman is amazing,” he muses. “What’s next?

When he returns, she greets him wearing nothing but some small flowers on tiny vines, each strategically positioned, she smelled faintly of gardenias. She then beckons for him to sit down next to her.

“Tell me,” she begins suggestively, slithering closer to him, “We’ve both been out here for many months.  You must have been lonely.  When was the last time you played around? She stares into his eyes.

He can’t believe what he’s hearing. “You mean…” he swallows excitedly as tears start to form in his eyes, “You’ve built a Golf Course too?

ED: From my inbox – Thanks Neil

The Australian Tunnel Rats were members of Engineer Field Troops serving in Vietnam. This included 3 Field Troop and 1, 2, and 3 Troops of 1 Field Squadron, Royal Australian Engineers. While a few soldiers were ‘lucky enough’ to encounter extensive enemy tunnel systems, every member of the Field Troops took turns in the underground tunnels to search, clear, and destroy enemy bunkers. Many of these bunkers were interconnected by small tunnels. In large operations, it was common for the sappers to destroy over 100 enemy bunkers.

3 Field Troop was the first Australian engineer unit deployed to Vietnam in support of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. In January 1965, they participated in Operation Crimp in the Ho Bo Woods, part of the notorious ‘Iron Triangle’. Their initial task was expected to involve road clearing, de-mining, and destroying enemy facilities or caches located by infantry. However, the discovery of tunnel entrances quickly changed their role.

One particular entrance became infamous when an enemy soldier used it to kill two Australian soldiers and wound two others. Despite lacking training for tunnel exploration and the obvious dangers, volunteers from 3 Field Troop entered the 60cm wide and 75cm high tunnels armed with only a flashlight, bayonet, and immense courage. Though the tunnels had been evacuated, they uncovered valuable intelligence, marking the beginning of their unexpected role as Tunnel Rats. Surprisingly, despite extensive tunnel experience from the French War and US Army explorations, no operational techniques or lessons were passed on to the Australian Field Engineers, leaving them untrained and unprepared for this dangerous task.

(Piture: Pte Keith Mills 3 Field Troop) On the fourth day of the operation, tragedy struck when Corporal Bob Bowtell, a 184cm tall non-commissioned officer, attempted to enter a tunnel. His large size prevented air from circulating, causing him to suffocate. Several of his rescuers narrowly avoided the same fate. Over the course of six days, the troop suffered six asphyxiation casualties, including one death and five injuries, due to what was referred to as ‘bad air’ in the tunnels. This likely resulted from remnants of tear gas and smoke that had been pumped into the tunnels using their newly issued ‘Mighty Mite’ blower system. Without proper re-oxygenation, the tunnels became dangerous for those who entered.

Despite this harrowing experience, none of the sappers refused to continue entering tunnels when required. However, after six days, the troop was withdrawn and redeployed to Bien Hoa and later to Nui Dat to assist in establishing the operational base for the 1st Australian Task Force. The true extent of the tunnel system remained unexplored, even though it was later revealed that it served as the command headquarters for operations against Saigon, Bien Hoa, and the surrounding provinces.

While much of their work involved tunnel clearance, the sappers also spent significant time above ground, defusing booby traps, clearing paths through minefields, and acting as infantrymen during enemy contact. Additionally, they took on engineering tasks like repairing roads and bridges, as well as upgrading base facilities, leading to an exceptionally busy and diverse workload.

As their tour of duty came to an end, the sappers turned their focus to documenting the techniques they had developed and establishing training protocols for future troops who would follow in their footsteps, navigating the dark, confined tunnels on hands and knees.

Though clearing tunnels remained hazardous, the majority of the 35 sappers who died in Vietnam or the 200 who were wounded suffered injuries in mine-related incidents rather than tunnel operations. This equated to a 36% casualty rate among highly skilled young soldiers. Between 1965 and 1971, five Military Medals (MM) and one Military Cross (MC) were awarded. Given the high-risk nature of their work and significant casualty rates, this under-recognition is more a reflection of the limited distribution of awards than the valour and experiences of the Tunnel Rats.

The Navy faces a growing threat from China, whose numerical superiority is increasing every year. To meet this challenge, the US Navy is heavily upgrading its destroyers with laser weapons and is ready to introduce a next-generation warship with previously unseen capabilities. Let’s find out what it is!