Chinese man-made object may have caused damage to USS Connecticut sub

By TOC

HONG KONG, ($1=7.78 Hong Kong Dollars) – The USS Connecticut nuclear submarine, which was damaged on October 2 during a mission in the South China Sea, most likely collided with an unknown Chinese underwater man-made object, learned BulgarianMilitary.com according to the Hong Kong news website iNews.

Chinese man-made object may have caused damage to USS Connecticut sub
Photo credit: RemoNews

According to him, after the incident, the satellite recorded the submarine on the surface on October 3, about 77 km from the island of Yongxing, which is part of the Paracel archipelago, in the South China Sea. The island was controlled by the People’s Republic of China in 1974. Vietnam claims ownership of the island. The island is home to a Chinese submarine base and a military airport.

The USS Connecticut submarine is believed to have approached the island for reconnaissance, iNews notes. Submarines of this type, in addition to conducting combat operations, are also designed to perform reconnaissance functions.

At the same time, it is noted that the submarine could hardly collide with the underwater terrain. The US Navy, which is constantly operating in the South China Sea, has studied it well. The submarine most likely collided with a Chinese underwater man-made object recently created near Yongxing Island to counter the approaching enemy forces, the newspaper writes.

The depth of the sea in the area of ​​the island is only about 300 meters.

Collision with an unknown object

The day before, US experts announced on social media that the hull of the bow of the nuclear submarine USS Connecticut, which collided with an unknown object in the South China Sea, was severely damaged. “According to the first data received, the hull of the USS Connecticut warhead is seriously damaged. We are waiting for photos,” said in SubBrief, written on Twitter by the submarine of the US Navy Aaron Amick.

According to the US Navy, a group of military specialists arrived at the base on the island of Guam in the western Pacific, where the damaged nuclear submarine entered last Friday to inspect the damage and determine its source.

According to the US Navy, as a result of the collision, which took place in international waters off the South China Sea, 11 of the 130 crew members were injured. They received life-threatening injuries.

According to the US Navy, “the submarine is in a safe, stable condition after the incident.” It was also stressed that its nuclear installation was not damaged. After the accident, the submarine was forced to go to Guam to the surface.

The U.S. military did not say exactly what the submarine encountered. According to sources from the US Navy, we are not talking about a collision with another submarine, a ship, or aggressive actions of another country. The Navy notes that according to topographic data, there was also no collision with the underwater terrain.

According to the latest data of the US Army, the submarine may collide with a sunken ship or a container that fell into the sea from a cargo ship.

USS Connecticut with a displacement of 7.5 thousand tons is a fourth-generation multifunctional nuclear submarine of the Seawolf type. Its missile armament is up to 50 Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles, which are fired from torpedoes. In addition to combat missions, he also performs intelligence functions.

There are only three such submarines in the US Navy. They are all assigned to the Pacific Underwater Base Kitsap-Bangor [Washington]. The price of each reaches 8.5 billion dollars at current prices.

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