British Intelligence Report: 55 Chinese Submarine Crew Allegedly Died Due to Air Poisoning

Back at the end of last August, news broke that a Type 093 (NATO code – Shang class) nuclear submarine belonging to the Chinese Navy ran aground between the Taiwan Strait and the Yellow Sea. However, for the Chinese government, this news is said to be nothing more than mere gossip, and the Taiwanese government stated that it had not detected any incidents related to submarines, and had not yet obtained evidence to support the report. 

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But there is the latest header from a well-known British portal – mirror.co.uk which was posted on October 4, 2023. It is said that there are fears that 55 Chinese Navy sailors died after their submarine was 'trapped' by an underwater trap prepared by China to ambush US and British submarines passing through the area.

Meanwhile, the deaths of 55 submarine crew members were caused by poisoning, namely due to an error in the submarine's air system. In the incident, China reportedly did not receive international assistance for the underwater rescue mission.

Still from the same source, it is said that the Chinese submarine crew died due to poisoning due to failure of the submarine's oxygen system. The source of this report comes from a secret British intelligence report leaked to the media. The captain of the Chinese PLA Navy submarine '093-417' is believed to be among the victims along with 21 other officers.

The Chinese government officially denies the incident and Beijing has reportedly also refused to seek international help for its trapped submarine, which has been operational for the past 15 years. The British report on the fatal mission noted: “Intelligence reports that on 21 August a submarine accident occurred while on a mission in the Yellow Sea.

A more detailed British intelligence report stated that the incident occurred at 08.12 local time, resulting in the deaths of 55 crew members. The victims consisted of 22 officers, 7 midshipmen, 9 junior officers and 17 sailors. The dead included Captain Colonel Xue Yong-Peng.

British intelligence reports said the submarine hit a chain-and-anchor barrier used by the Chinese Navy to trap US and allied submarines. This resulted in a system failure that took six hours to repair and bring the ship to the surface. However, the ship's oxygen system poisoned the crew after a catastrophic failure.

A senior British Navy officer said that a submarine's air purifier and air processing system could "fail" if the submarine gets trapped in the net system and its batteries run low. This causes asphyxia or poisoning.

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Currently, no independent confirmation of the alleged disappearance of the Chinese submarine is publicly available. The British Navy has so far refused to comment on the details in the defense intelligence report, which is said to be highly classified.