The Navy announced Thursday that a US nuclear-powered submarine attacked an object while submerged, with no life-threatening injuries.
The Seawolf-class high-speed attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) was active in the high seas of the Indo-Pacific region at the time of the collision, the Navy said. statement..
“The submarine remains safe and stable. The USS Connecticut nuclear propulsion plant and space are unaffected and remain fully functional,” the statement said. “The degree of damage to the rest of the submarine has been assessed. The US Navy has not requested assistance.”
The Navy said there were no life-threatening injuries.
Approximately 11 sailors were injured in the incident with moderate to minor injuries, defense officials said. USNI News.. The boat is currently heading to Guam and will be pulled in the next day, according to people familiar with the matter.
Defense officials have confirmed to USNI News that an underwater accident has occurred in the South China Sea and boats have been sailing towards Guam since Saturday.
The terrain of the area at the time did not indicate that there was land in front of the boat, officials said. Navy Times..
Authorities demanded anonymity because they were not allowed to speak on record.
Officials said there were no signs that the accident was hostile or that the submarine had collided with another vessel, noting that the information was still preliminary.
The Navy said the case would be investigated.
The Navy has three classes of nuclear submarines in service. According to the Navy, Los Angeles-class submarines are the backbone of submarine units, with about 40 currently in service.
Seawolf-class nuclear submarines are extremely quiet, fast, armed, and equipped with advanced sensors. The Seawolf class has eight torpedo launchers, and the torpedo chamber can carry up to 50 weapons. However, due to the end of the Cold War, construction was discontinued, and the Navy has only three Seawolf-class nuclear submarines.
The next generation of attack submarines will be Virginia-class and will replace Los Angeles-class submarines when they retire. So far, 19 Virginias have been commissioned.
The last known case of a submarine colliding with another underwater object was in 2005. After that, USS San Francisco (SSN -711) collided with an underwater mountain near Guam at full speed. USNI News reported that one sailor was killed in the incident.
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Li Hai is a reporter of The Epoch Times based in New York.