US Navy Seawolf-class attack submarine
USS Connecticut arrives in San Diego with
visible damage to its bow after crashing
into an underwater mountain in the South
China Sea in October
Daily Mail (UK),
by
Michelle Thompson
Original Article
Posted By: Ribicon,
12/12/2021 10:43:26 PM
A U.S. fast-attack, nuclear-powered submarine arrived in San Diego on Sunday with visible surface damage following a collision earlier this year in the South China Sea. The USS Connecticut landed at the California coast with a blemished bow after it struck an unmapped seamount October 2 while submerged in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region.(Snip)'The boat’s sonar dome became inoperable as a result of the collision, making it unsafe to travel underwater,' the outlet said, adding the ballast tanks and forward section of the boat were also damaged.(Snip)On the day the USS Connecticut struck the underwater mountain there were soaring tensions
Reply 1 - Posted by:
voxpopuli 12/12/2021 11:00:16 PM (No. 1005227)
must have to do with the name..
Seawolf..
violent.. too violent..
maybe the next class could be called the Pansy-class..
9 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
snakeoil 12/12/2021 11:03:15 PM (No. 1005230)
Next time use WAZE.
14 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
chumley 12/12/2021 11:11:42 PM (No. 1005237)
I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. If you drove a car without a windshield to look out of, wouldn't you expect to hit things?
Glad they made it home safely. Must be one hellofa crew.
12 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
NotaBene 12/12/2021 11:51:03 PM (No. 1005249)
I understand the US Navy not being able to navigate ships. I am affected too by the scent of a woman.
6 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Zeek Wolfe 12/13/2021 12:38:54 AM (No. 1005275)
If the submarine is going to be repaired in Puget Sound, why does it have to make a stop in San Diego first? Why not go from the South China Sea directly tp Puget Sound? I get it! A defense contractor coldn't tack on another billion dollars to the repair bill. Now it makes sense.
11 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
EQKimball 12/13/2021 12:57:07 AM (No. 1005290)
Something is not right about this story. I suspect another object was involved.
14 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
DVC 12/13/2021 1:38:09 AM (No. 1005306)
And they relieved the captain, for hitting an uncharted underwater obstacle. I'd love to hear how that gets figured.
No question, run aground on a charted reef, or almost any other place where you should be aware of hazards and you are done as a USN captain. I know a former captain of several ships personally, and discussed this with him a number of times. Sounds fair.
But uncharted and traveling submerged? I thought that this was just sort of the "unknown hazard" thing.
I'd like to see if there is any rational thought behind this these days. There used to be, but the military has been so totally deranged in recent decades, it is difficult to recognize any more.
9 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
hershey 12/13/2021 7:28:19 AM (No. 1005436)
Wait, wait, it took 2 1/2 months to travel from the South China sea???
3 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
downnout 12/13/2021 7:30:50 AM (No. 1005440)
I enquired of my better half as to how this could occur and he thinks they may have been “running silent”, IOW no active pinging on sonar. Whatever the cause three naval careers are over.
5 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Lazyman 12/13/2021 8:19:57 AM (No. 1005485)
They may have to bring back the merit system if they like speaking English.
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Clinger 12/13/2021 8:23:27 AM (No. 1005487)
As long as everybody got out with their gender identities intact all is good. I agree with others, there's more to this. It's probably in our best interest for that more to this to remain secret.
8 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
red1066 12/13/2021 9:53:01 AM (No. 1005586)
The sonar dome was inoperable as a result of the collision. So, what was the problem with it before they ran into this hill. They need those big picture windows like the one's on the Seaview from that 60's tv show.
4 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
MickTurn 12/13/2021 12:05:17 PM (No. 1005767)
That is the height of incompetence. With all the positioning gear on the sub that's impossible unless someone was asleep at the helm!
0 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
bighambone 12/13/2021 12:41:21 PM (No. 1005807)
How could the top of the submarine’s bow collide with an undersea mountain and the boat survive, as the top of the boat would have been next? Chances are it really glanced off another vessel, either operating submerged or on the surface. You should be able to figure that the Chinese Communists know what really occurred.
1 person likes this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
DVC 12/13/2021 2:10:53 PM (No. 1005918)
Re #10. Yes, exactly. Subs have to stay totally silent to 'disappear', which is their primary defense. So the do NOT run around using active sonar (sending out pings which are reflected off of objects) because it is like being in a dark auditorium and turning on a flashlight....or blowing a whistle. You will be located quickly.
Passive sonar is always used....but sea mounts don't give off sounds, like subs and other ships do, so it can't keep you from running into uncharted sea mounts.
This is the point of my comment. Hit a charted obstacle with a surface or subsurface ship....and you SHOULD be fired. But uncharted....and submerged running silent? Exactly how is this the skipper's fault?
I'd love to hear more from someone really close to the sub community. All my family and most friends were surface USN or aviators, limited exposure to submariners. I understand the basic technology pretty well from friends who flew Anti-Sub Warfare, and we discussed how that works.
I hope that there is some rational reason for this...not just irrational anger punishing an innocent captain.
0 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
watashiyo 12/13/2021 4:41:28 PM (No. 1006012)
Guilty or Innocent, the captain will be punished. Military protocol requires a Scapegoat to cover up or to move forward. ...I thought American Nuclear Sub was like bats in the cave.
0 people like this.
Did this story appear in San Diego newspaper or on San Diego television news?
0 people like this.
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"First there was a mountain, then there was no mountain, then there was." —Donovan
Do these optics make the US Navy look foolish? Towed into port for all to see without even the LGBTQ+ jack flying proud. And did we recover that F-35 the silly Brits crashed on takeoff a month ago off their aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, or did the Russian submarines (despite being handicapped by their lack of accommodations for woman and transgender sailors) retrieve it first?