Wire: USS John S McCain, Chinese Sub in Collision Incident

In this 2008 file photo, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) operates with ships from the Indian navy and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force in formation in Tokyo Bay. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist John L. Beeman.)

Off the Wire:

EDITOR'S NOTE: USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) is named after John S. McCain, Jr. and John S. McCain, Sr., both Admirals in the United States Navy. They are respectively the father and grandfather of John S. McCain III, U.S. Senator representing Arizona and former Naval aviator Captain who endured five and a half years as a POW in the Vietnam War.

WASHINGTON, June 12, 2009 -- Newswire services reported this evening that a Chinese submarine hit an underwater sonar array being towed by the destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) on Thursday near Subic Bay off the coast of the Philippines.

According to a report from CNN, the array was damaged, but the sub and the ship did not collide, a U.S. military official said.

CNN noted that the official, who declined to be named because the incident had not been made public, would not say whether the U.S. ship knew the submarine was that close to it.

The Navy does not believe this was a deliberate incident of Chinese harassment, as it would have been extremely dangerous had the array gotten caught in the submarine's propellers, CNN said.

A Pentagon spokesman was not immediately available for comment on the CNN report.

This is a developing story.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source: Sub collides with sonar array towed by U.S. Navy ship

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