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Home Front: WoT
One Of The Navy's Prized Seawolf Class Submarines Has Suffered An Underwater Collision (Updated)
2021-10-08
[The Drive via Rantingly] USS Connecticut's nuclear reactor was unaffected by the undersea accident, but the Navy won't say what exactly the submarine hit.

The USS Connecticut, one of the U.S. Navy's highly advanced and secretive nuclear-powered Seawolf class submarines, is on its way back to port after suffering an underwater collision. The service says that there were no life-threatening injuries among the members of Connecticut's crew as a result of the accident. The submarine itself is in a "safe and stable condition" and its reactor plant was unaffected and remains fully operational.

USNI News was first to report on this accident, which occurred on Oct. 2. The Navy would not say where the submarine was at the time of the collision, beyond in international waters somewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, or what it hit. The service also only said that Connecticut was now headed to a port in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility, which includes the Western Pacific Ocean and a significant portion of the Indian Ocean, as well as various bodies of water in between. U.S. 7th Fleet has its main headquarters in Japan.
Posted by:Frank G

#27  Was it a Seawolf or the SeaView (link)
Posted by: CrazyFool   2021-10-08 23:47  

#26  All of the crew will have to sign a 50 year secrecy letter!
Posted by: Ebbineth Prince of the Danes4598   2021-10-08 23:05  

#25  Lucky it didn't damage the front windows or flying sub, like on the Seaview
Posted by: Frank G   2021-10-08 21:03  

#24  For that many injuries the boat had a significant deacceleration. One container vs the momentum and mass of the sub IMHO would not have done it. So it hit an immovable object or some movable object of close to equal mass.
Posted by: Croque Fliting8030   2021-10-08 19:08  

#23  Could this be the bubble-head version of recon by fire?
Posted by: SteveS   2021-10-08 14:36  

#22  Reportedly headed for Guam, which likely means a shipworthyness patch up and take the 11 injured off under a 'fewer prying eyes' environment.
Posted by: ed in texas   2021-10-08 14:25  

#21  Subs not for the claustrophobic.
Posted by: JohnQC   2021-10-08 14:02  

#20  Given the recent, massive ChiCom military demonstrations and posturing, I would imagine the Navy would have a heightened interest in collections assets and even an overt (to skilled eyes and ears) presence in that Sooth China Seas area. So gamesmanship, stealth collections of naval data, and other risky things seem likely. Does where they do the repairs hint at how severe the damage was?
Posted by: NoMoreBS   2021-10-08 12:45  

#19  
Posted by: Black is a form of dirt    2021-10-08 11:48  

#18  Wouldn't a head count of the Chinese subs and keeping an eye on shipyards for one to pull in tell the story?
Posted by: Yosemite Sam   2021-10-08 11:46  

#17  Rare but sometimes these subs will tail a commercial ship leaving harbor.
We were on a sea trial for the Navy and one of their subs tailed us unbeknown we were about to demonstrate "crash astern" and we cleaned up their con tower with our propellar.
Posted by: crazyhorse   2021-10-08 11:43  

#16  Hat tip to boat people. Takes a rather unique brand of courage.
Posted by: Besoeker   2021-10-08 10:55  

#15  I don't know, they've managed to run into a lot of surface ships along the way, but they've been better about that of late. In '09, SSN Hartford ran into Amphib New Orleans so hard they bent the sail. In '12, SSN Montpelier managed to break cruiser San Jacinto's sonar dome. (They were on a sub hunting exercise. I'm not sure who won.)
Posted by: ed in texas   2021-10-08 10:53  

#14  Almost as unbelievable as what happened to the Scorpion! Bangcok is correct..l also was a boat guy!
Posted by: Glotle Ebbomoper1811   2021-10-08 10:33  

#13  If it was a chinese sub, what are the most likely scenarios under which they might collide? Would the chinese sub just be sitting there quiet and our sub ran into it, unaware? Or maybe saw it at the last minute, but couldn't turn. You'd think the Chinese sub wouldn't want to be hit, either. Or perhaps they were maneuvering around, fully aware of each other, playing cat-and-mouse? That kinda seems most likely.
Posted by: Snakes Sleager5327   2021-10-08 10:03  

#12  I think around 2005 a US sub "ran into a mountain" off Guam. or so they said.
Posted by: Mercutio   2021-10-08 08:35  

#11  USS Greeneville collision
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-10-08 07:28  

#10  #9 Yep, China playing chicken.
Posted by: Dale   2021-10-08 07:28  

#9  From a former submariner - "If you see pictures and stories with details, that means they probably bumped into something mundane like a floating/mostly submerged shipping container. If you see and hear nothing further about it, they probably bumped into something cigar shaped."

I'm going with cigar shaped.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy   2021-10-08 06:59  

#8  UFO [unidentified floating object]
Posted by: Skidmark   2021-10-08 06:55  

#7  Not the Kraken?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2021-10-08 02:13  

#6  (Youtube) The Hunt For Red October(1990)--Crazy Ivan....?
Posted by: magpie   2021-10-08 02:02  

#5  It may have been an incident similar to the April 1, 2001 Hainan Island incident, where in this case a Chinese sub "slow bumped" the American sub in an attempt to 'escort' it away from the area. The American side may not want to reveal the depth this happened or the location where it was discovered. Revealing the damage area on the U.S. sub to the public, would help relieve fears, but I'm not going to hold my breath.
Posted by: Fleck Whusing1259   2021-10-08 01:26  

#4  It is damn peculiar that 11 were injured but the sub wasn't lost. That means this "collision" wasn't severe enough for a hull breach -- but 11 were injured? Hmmm. Best guess is they were on mission or training and something went wrong and the PR reads that they had an underwater collision. Seawolfs are *massive* so for so many to be injured, either it did some crazytown maneuvers to avoid something (and ppl fell out of their racks) or something else happened...
Posted by: Black is a form of dirt    2021-10-08 00:44  

#3  One ping only?
Posted by: Raj   2021-10-08 00:21  

#2  Guess they will need a new captain
Posted by: Silentbrick   2021-10-08 00:12  

#1  Maybe it was a giant octopus.
Posted by: Blackbeard Barnsmell6454   2021-10-08 00:03  

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