North Korea refloats destroyer that capsized during launch, surprising naval analysts

[240B]

North Korea refloats destroyer that capsized during launch, surprising naval analysts

CNN
By Brad Lendon
June 6, 2025

North Korea says it has successfully refloated a new destroyer that capsized upon launch last month, with state media reporting the damaged vessel will be moved to a dry dock in a different shipyard for repairs.

“After restoring the balance of the destroyer early in June, the team moored it at the pier by safely conducting its end launching on Thursday afternoon,” a report from the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

A satellite photo taken by Planet Labs on June 5 showed the formerly stricken vessel righted and seemingly floating in water away from the pier where the disastrous launch took place.

The 5,000-ton destroyer is the country’s newest warship and was meant to be a triumph of North Korea’s ambitious naval modernization effort.

(more)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/05/asia/north-korea-refloats-destroyer-capsized-during-launch-intl-hnk-ml

[Free Vulcan]

Oompaloompas can do alot of amazing things if there are enough of them.

[Sighlass]

Probable using the bloated bodies of men he killed right after the incident.

[DefiantMassRINO]

Sounds like those analysts are underestimating their enemy.  Might want to hire more competent analysts.

[Wingnut]

Impressive.  Amazing what you can do when your life is on the line.

[MeganC]

The ship is still a write off.

[BobfromWB]

Oompaloompas can do alot of amazing things if there are enough of them.

especially with all those wood chippers lined up dockside & manned by enforcer troops ...

[GtHawk]

especially with all those wood chippers lined up dockside & manned by enforcer troops ...

I believe they are called ‘early retirement portals’ there.

[rangerrebew]

What's the big deal?  The US refloated and used several ships sunk at Pearl Harbor and they were damaged.

[MeganC]

What's the big deal?  The US refloated and used several ships sunk at Pearl Harbor and they were damaged.

Those ships weren't packed with electronics from stem to stern.

You can sink a 1940 Ford pickup in a river, raise it, dry it out, replace a few things, and then off you go.

Can't do that with a 2025 model.

[240B]

Those ships weren't packed with electronics from stem to stern.

You can sink a 1940 Ford pickup in a river, raise it, dry it out, replace a few things, and then off you go.

Can't do that with a 2025 model.

This is very true. They can refloat it but they cannot deploy it until it has been completely rebuilt internally. And good luck getting new parts to replace the damaged electronics which they either stole or got off the black-market.

Refloating a capsized ship is very difficult. And the fact that third world N. Korea did it is surprising. Also, the first article I read claimed N. Korea does not have a dry dock, which is why they launched it from the pier. Now, apparently N. Korea does have a dry dock to attempt to repair the damaged ship. If they had simply launched it more carefully, none of this would have happened.

I cannot imagine how many hundreds or even thousands of people were murdered or enslaved in prison over this. And N. Korea doesn't just punish a single person. They imprison their entire family even generations out, along with friends and neighbors of the convicted. N. Korea is the most vile, ruthless, and utterly STUPID, nation on Earth.

[Smokin Joe]

Those ships weren't packed with electronics from stem to stern.

You can sink a 1940 Ford pickup in a river, raise it, dry it out, replace a few things, and then off you go.

Can't do that with a 2025 model.

IIRC, this one was not fitted out completely, including the VLS systems, and likely much of the electronics. They had to launch on schedule or lose face, so they launched it. That might have affected the dynamics of the launch as well.

[MeganC]

IIRC, this one was not fitted out completely, including the VLS systems, and likely much of the electronics. They had to launch on schedule or lose face, so they launched it. That might have affected the dynamics of the launch as well.

With a lot of effort the Norks might get that thing to be a half-decent fishing trawler. But it is not going to be an effective modern warship. That thing is going to be riddled with corrosion from salt water saturation and the Norks do not have the skills to clean it all out.

[GtHawk]

This is very true. They can refloat it but they cannot deploy it until it has been completely rebuilt internally. And good luck getting new parts to replace the damaged electronics which they either stole or got off the black-market.

Refloating a capsized ship is very difficult. And the fact that third world N. Korea did it is surprising. Also, the first article I read claimed N. Korea does not have a dry dock, which is why they launched it from the pier. Now, apparently N. Korea does have a dry dock to attempt to repair the damaged ship. If they had simply launched it more carefully, none of this would have happened.

I cannot imagine how many hundreds or even thousands of people were murdered or enslaved in prison over this. And N. Korea doesn't just punish a single person. They imprison their entire family even generations out, along with friends and neighbors of the convicted. N. Korea is the most vile, ruthless, and utterly STUPID, nation on Earth.

I have also seen where they are conjecturing that the keel was damaged in the incident which would make it scrap.

[BobfromWB]

With a lot of effort the Norks might get that thing to be a half-decent fishing trawler. But it is not going to be an effective modern warship.

A dragger? Not a chance - wrong hull configuration.

[BobfromWB]

I have also seen where they are conjecturing that the keel was damaged in the incident which would make it scrap.

Nothing a little welding can't fix - or at least they can claim - better to make the claim than face to dock-side wood chipper.

[240B]

I have also seen where they are conjecturing that the keel was damaged in the incident which would make it scrap.

That makes sense. Apparently the stern became stuck on something while the bow went in the water. That should have warped the keel. But, as the other posters have said, in N. Korea just 'saying' you fixed it is enough sometimes. Just like Putin, Kim Jong Un is stupid and he has no way of verifying if what he is being told is true. That is what always happens in a brutal dictatorship.

The Navy Admirals will make it float somehow, get it to move, and fill it full of blinking lights and bogus radar displays. Kim will never know the difference.

[GtHawk]

What's REALLY Inside North Korea's New Destroyer? You Won't Believe It…


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=l_TMcZJnDM4&t=9s