In May or June 2024, commercial satellite imagery showed unusual heavy crane barges and pollution-containment booms at the Wuchang Shipyard in Wuhan, China — assets typically used for major salvage operations. By September 2024, senior U.S. defense officials had confirmed anonymously to Western news organizations that China’s newest attack submarine — the first of a new class designated by Western analysts as the Zhou-class or Type 041 — had sunk at its mooring during construction or final fitting-out. Beijing has never publicly acknowledged the loss; when asked at press briefings, Chinese Foreign Ministry officials said only that they “are not familiar with the situation,” a response Western observers interpreted as tacit confirmation, with the submarine’s lengthened hull suggesting vertical launch systems for YJ-18 anti-ship or CJ-10 land-attack missiles previously seen only on Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarines.
China’s New Submarine Had A Tragic Accident?
China SSN Submarine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Kilo-Class Submarine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
China Nuclear Submarine. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been modernizing and expanding at an astonishing rate. Its current inventory dwarfs the U.S. Navy in sheer mass, and the technological gap that once separated them is closing rapidly. However, these efforts have not gone without their setbacks. In 2024, one of China’s newest submarines sank while in its dock, requiring a large team of barges and heavy cranes to recover. The submarine appeared to be a nuclear attack sub, making it an especially significant loss for the PLAN.
Repairs on the vessel are still ongoing, and it is unclear when it will return to service, as China has yet to officially acknowledge the event.
A Chinese Submarine Sinks at Its Dock
In 2024, commercially available satellite images from the Wuhan-area Wuchang Shipyard began showing unusual activity.
Analysts noticed that a submarine previously visible moored at a pier was either partially submerged or no longer clearly visible, and that several large floating crane barges had suddenly appeared around the site.
Such cranes are commonly used for heavy salvage operations, which immediately raised suspicions among Western observers.
Pollution-containment booms were also visible in the water, leading some to speculate about the possibility of an oil leak or, worse, a radiation leak. At the time, there was no official statement from Chinese authorities, and Chinese state media did not mention any accident or mishap at the shipyard.
The anomaly was first discovered by Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine warfare officer, who had been routinely monitoring Chinese shipyard activity.
Shugart and others noted that the timing, scale, and configuration of the equipment at the dock were inconsistent with normal submarine fitting-out procedures. This suggested that this was an entirely new type of Submarine under development, or at least a heavily modified version of an existing type.
“If this ship eventually does get repaired,” said Shugart, “and I’m sure it will, it’ll be a far more capable submarine than what they were building before at that shipyard.” Sure enough, by mid-June, it appeared that whatever had sunk had been stabilized or lifted, as the crane barges were gradually removed in subsequent images, and normal activity resumed by early July.
China Loses Its First Nuclear Sub?
Observers debated whether the submerged vessel was a submarine or another type of large naval platform, and if it was a submarine, whether it was nuclear-powered or conventionally powered.
In September 2024, however, senior U.S. defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed to multiple Western news organizations that China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine had indeed sunk alongside a pier at the Wuhan shipyard earlier in the year.
According to those officials, the sinking occurred sometime between May and June while the vessel was under construction or in its final fitting-out phase. They identified the submarine as the first in a new class, often referred to in the West as the Zhou-class or Type 041.
A nuclear-powered submarine sinking at a dock, even if later recovered, is quite an embarrassment for any navy, particularly one that has so often bragged about its rapid expansion and technological sophistication.
U.S. officials stated that the submarine had been raised after sinking, but they declined to comment on its condition or whether it would eventually enter service.
The officials added that it was unclear whether the submarine’s nuclear reactor had been fueled at the time of the accident, a crucial distinction when assessing both safety risks and political implications.
Chinese officials were understandably silent on the topic. When asked about the incident during press briefings, the Chinese Foreign Ministry denied any knowledge of it.
“We are not familiar with the situation you mentioned and currently have no information to provide,” a Chinese official said to Washington. This response was widely interpreted as tacit confirmation that something had occurred but that Beijing preferred not to discuss it publicly.
The PLAN, which tightly controls information about accidents and losses, issued no statements. For outside observers, the silence reinforced perceptions of opacity and fueled further speculation.
A Nuclear or Conventional Sub?
As the story spread, some experts argued that mainstream news outlets had mischaracterized the event and had falsely reported the facts. In early October 2024, a Defense One analysis argued that available evidence did not conclusively prove the submarine was nuclear-powered.
The article noted that the Type 041 designation had previously been associated in Chinese sources with an advanced, AIP-connected, submarine derived from the Yuan-class, and that Wuhan was not known to be one of China’s certified nuclear submarine shipyards. Typically, China’s nuclear submarines have been built at Huludao in the Bohai Sea, where specialized infrastructure supports their production and maintenance.
The analysis also noted that the sunken submarine had a lengthened hull that appeared to accommodate vertical launch systems (VLS). According to Chinese sources, the Type 041 can carry YJ-18 anti-ship missiles or CJ-10 land-attack missiles.
Currently, the only Chinese subs that contain VLS are its Type 094 Jin-class nuclear ballistic missile submarines.
No conventionally powered submarine in the PLAN is currently equipped with VLS, which makes the loss of this particular submarine all the more damaging for China. When focusing solely on the nuclear aspect, many reporters missed that China has been slowly increasing its inventory of undersea-based missile launchers.
About the Author: Isaac Seitz
Isaac Seitz, a Defense Columnist, graduated from Patrick Henry College’s Strategic Intelligence and National Security program. He has also studied Russian at Middlebury Language Schools and has worked as an intelligence Analyst in the private sector.
