New Chinese nuclear sub sinks before leaving dock

Mr. Goodenough is China's equivalent of the British botcher or the American slacker: someone who gets it done and always has an explanation for why it wasn't done right. The country's latest Zhou-class nuclear submarine sank before it was even completed, according to U.S. military sources, but the excuse "Cha Bu Duo" was surely not available to whomever was responsible.

The episode, which Chinese authorities scrambled to cover up and hasn't previously been disclosed, occurred at a shipyard near Wuhan in late May or early June. It comes as China has been pushing to expand its navy, including its fleet of nuclear-powered submarines. The Pentagon has cast China as its principal long-term "pacing challenge,"

The sub, manufactured by state-owned China State Shipbuilding, was on a pier at the Yangtze River in late May—then suddenly replaced by large floating salvage cranes on the satellite's next pass. It would not have been wrecked, sources tell The Wall Street Journal, but would take months to dry out and electronics would have to be replaced at significant cost.

The U.S. has suffered similar setbacks, which proved costly. In 1969, the nuclear-powered USS Guitarro was moored at a shipyard in California when it sank following a series of mistakes by construction workers. It wasn't officially commissioned until 32 months after its sinking.