An article published in this morning's Los Angeles Times calls doubt onto the sinking of the Cheonan in March. The article sites individuals such as the South Korean investigative journalist Shin Sang-Chul, South Korean born U.S. academics, a former Defense Ministry official, and a military oversight body. The investigative panel on the Cheonan incident has not released its detailed findings to the public; however, U.S. officials remain convinced that its conclusions are valid.
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Opponents of the official story argue that there was no sign of a torpedo impact on the boat and that the fragments of the torpedo, which implicated the North Korean's, were fabricated. They believe instead, that the boat hit a coral reef and tore itself apart. As can be seen from the above photo however, the ship essentially split in half. While traditional depiction of torpedoes assumes that they puncture a ships hull and cause internal damage, flooding the ship, scientists say that a more effective use is to detonate the torpedo in the water, near the hull of the ship.
Geoffrey Forden, who has a PhD in physics and is a researcher at MIT, gives a great explanation of exactly how this phenomena occurs, contrasting it to the attack on the USS Cole, which was in fact a direct torpedo hit. Essentially the blast of the torpedo carries significantly more power in water than in air (or the inside of a ship), as do other waves e.g. sound. When it detonates it creates a massive pillar of water which has the power to split a ship in half. He has some great pictures of this effect.
There is no doubt that all information about this incident has not been made fully public; however, it is perfectly likely that the reasons for that are security and diplomacy related, rather than an attempt to conceal fraud.
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