The World War II Era Boat is sinking before it can sink as a destination practice in US drills.

A ship from the Filipina Navy of the Era of the World War that will be used as an objective in a combat exercise by the Americans and the Philippine forces were accidentally sank on Monday before the simulated assault, which caused the drill to be canceled, US and Filipin military officials said.

The BRP Miguel Malvar, who was dismantled by the Navy of the Philippines in 2021, took water while towed in rough waters in front of the disputed sea of ​​southern China and sank about 30 nautical miles from the province of Zambales of the Western Philippines. No one was on board when the ship listed and then sank, said the Philippine army.

The US and Philippine forces would proceed with other zambales living fire maneuvers on Monday despite the premature sinking of Malvar. The ship was built as a patrol boat for the US Navy.

“It is an 80 -year -old ruined ship and could not stand the agitated seas,” said Lieutenant Colonel of Philippine John Paul Salgado to The News.

Originally called USS Brattleboro, the ship was in service for the US Navy for more than 20 years. Was very involved in the Okinawa battle Where the ship “treated more than 200 seriously injured men and rescued more than 1,000 survivors of ships that sank,” according to the United States Navy. Brattleboro won three battle stars during World War II.

The ship was sold to the Republic of Vietnam in 1966, said the United States Navy. The Philippines Navy acquired and renewed the ship after its crew fled from Vietnam after the 1975 Saigon fall, according to the France-Presse agency.

The ship inspection exercise was planned in an area on the high seas against the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which has been closely protected by the Chinese coastal guard, the Navy and the suspicion of ships of the militia.

The Philippines also claims the fishing atol, which is located about 137 miles west of Zambales. Chinese and the Philippines have had increasingly hostile confrontations in Scarborough’s waters and airspace in recent years.

The Boat Inspection Cancel simulation would have been the third to be organized by the allies of the Treaty in recent years. It was supposed to be one of the most prominent aspects of large -scale annual military exercises by the United States and the Philippines from April 21 to May 9 with about 14,000 US and Philippines that participate.

Called Balikatan, Tagalog for shoulder with shoulder, combat drills have focused more and more on the defense of Filipino sovereignty against the growing aggression of China in the South China Sea, which Beijing practically affirms in its entirety.

The battle drills of the scenes that have been organized so far, including the recovery of an island of the hostile forces, have reflected the guarantees of the Trump administration, even by the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, which the United States would fulfill its commitment to defend the Philippines in case the Philippine Forces are under an armed attack, even in the South of China.

On Sunday, the American, Australian and the Philippines forces practiced to resume an island of hostile forces in the coastal city of Balabac in the western province of Palawan, which faces the South China Sea.

Japanese forces and British marines joined as observers of the combat exercise, which “showed the growing interoperability and cohesion between the associated nations in the maintenance of regional security,” said Salgado.

“What we have seen since Trump returned to the White House is a notable level of continuity in the US Filipinas Alliance. UU. Not only in the joint military exercises, but also in the US statements that the alliance is ‘Ironclad’,” said Derek Grossman, a senior defense analyst at Rand Corporation.

“The Trump administration is trying to maintain pressure on China through its support for the Philippines,” said Grossman, but added that it is not clear “how sustainable this commitment will be given that the Trump administration seems less aggressive in China than its predecessors.”

China has vehemently opposed such exercises that involve US forces in or near the southern sea of ​​China or Taiwan, island democracy, which, which Beijing claims as a province and has threatened to force by force if necessary.

However, the United States military officers and the Philippines have insisted that the combat exercises were not designed with China in mind, but serve as a deterrent to acts of aggression in the region.

In:
• South China Sea
• Navy
• Philippines