The US military recently completed an investigation into the unidentified object touched by its nuclear submarine in the South China Sea, confirming that the Connecticut ran aground after colliding with an unknown seamount.
USS Connecticut. (Image source: Pacific Fleet official Twitter)
According to people familiar with the matter, the U.S. military investigation into the collision was completed last week and the results have now been submitted to Deputy Admiral Karl Thomas, commander of the 7th Fleet, for review to determine whether any additional accountability action will be taken against the incident.
Damage to the nuclear submarine's front is understood to have damaged the ballast tank, prompting the Connecticut to sail from the South China Sea to Guam via the sea for only a week. But the Navy has repeatedly said the submarine's nuclear reactors and propulsion systems were not damaged. The USS Connecticut, departing from Washington's naval base kitsap-bremerton, was deployed to the Pacific ocean in late May.
The submarine will undergo initial repairs on Guam and will be overseen by personnel from the Naval Sea Systems Command, puget sound naval shipyard and the submarine mothership USS Emory S. Rand (AS-39).
The Navy will first decide how to repair the submarine enough to safely leave Guam for follow-up repairs. Jay Stefany, the Navy's acting assistant secretary for research and acquisition, once told the House Armed Services Committee's Preparation Subcommittee: "If we end up doing it at a public shipyard [the restoration of the Connecticut)," it would certainly disrupt all the other work at the shipyard." ”
The damage to the submarine and subsequent repairs once again drew the Navy's attention to the backlog of repairs to attack submarines. Joe Courtney, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Maritime Power and Projection Forces, noted the lack of dry dock facilities for submarine repairs in western Hawaii. "Currently, the submarine is in Guam, but there is no dry dock there."
Earlier, the U.S. Navy issued a statement on October 7 saying that a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine collided underwater with an object earlier this month. The submarine was damaged and the number of people injured is unknown. "On the afternoon of October 2, the U.S. Navy's Connecticut (SSN22) Seawolf-class rapid attack submarine hit an object while diving into international waters in the Indo-Pacific region."
The USS Connecticut is one of only three Seawolf-class submarines and is widely regarded as one of the most capable submarines in the U.S. Navy. The formidable assault submarine was built at the end of the Cold War to pursue Soviet submarines in deep water, but then the U.S. Navy canceled the costly Seawolf program. While the U.S. Navy is still using its limited fleet of Seawolf-class submarines for the Navy's most sensitive missions, which include the Seawolf and jimmy carter, the U.S. Navy's primary attack submarine is the Virginia-class submarine. (End)