Tensions have escalated in recent months between Beijing and rival claimants. In 2005, submarine the USS San Francisco struck a seamount near Guam at full speed, killing one sailor and injuring 24 others.Ĭhina claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in shipping trade passes annually, with competing claims from four south-east Asian states as well as Taiwan.īeijing has been accused of deploying a range of military hardware there, including anti-ship and surface-to-air missiles, and ignored a 2016 international tribunal decision that declared its historical claim over most of the waters to be without basis. The 107-metre (353ft) multi-billion-dollar USS Connecticut was commissioned in the cold war era and is one of three Sea Wolf-class boats. One official said it could have been a sunken vessel, a sunken container or other uncharted object. The officials said it was not yet clear what object the sub had struck but that it was not another submarine. Navy officials told the Washington Post it is not believed that China caused the collision and that the vessel was monitored by other US vessels in the region as it moved to Guam. They said the incident was not announced before Thursday in order to maintain operational security. This enables the submarine to stay quiet and hidden from adversaries, but it means subs must rely on other devices or multiple passive sonars to triangulate the location of an object in its path.The officials said the sub then headed toward port at Guam. Unlike “active sonar,” which sends out pings and then registers how long their echoes take to return to the vessel, passive sonar detects only sound coming toward it. “It could have been an object small enough to be missed by sonars in a noisy environment,” Patalano said.Īccording to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, naval vessels use what is called “passive sonar” to detect objects in the water around them. While the Navy hasn’t revealed what the Connecticut struck, analysts say conditions in the South China Sea can be a challenge for the sub’s sophisticated sensors. How did it get into trouble in the South China Sea? “These subs have some of the most advanced – in fact the most advanced – underwater capabilities in the business,” said Alessio Patalano, professor of war and strategy at King’s College in London. The Navy says it is “exceptionally quiet, fast, well-armed, and equipped with advanced sensors.” The 9,300-ton, 353-foot sub, commissioned in 1998, is powered by a single nuclear reactor and crewed by 140 sailors.Īs it is larger than even the newest Virginia-class attack subs, the Connecticut can carry more weaponry than other US attack submarines – including up to 50 torpedoes as well as Tomahawk cruise missiles, according to a US Navy fact sheet.Īnd despite being more than 20 years old, it’s also technologically advanced with updates to its systems performed during its service life. The Connecticut is one of three Seawolf-class submarines in the Navy fleet, with a price tag of about $3 billion each. The service said the injuries were minor and the sub arrived at the US naval base on the island of Guam on Friday under its own power.Ī Navy spokesperson told CNN the front of the submarine was damaged and there would be a “full investigation and a full assessment” of the incident. What are nuclear-powered submarines and how do they work? Navy photo courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries by ChrisOxley/Released Click through the gallery to learn more about the Navy's submarine fleet. The Navy has 12 Virginia-class subs in service. Virginia-class attack subs, displacing 7,800 tons and at 377 feet long, "are designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships project power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operation Forces (SOF) carry out Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions support battle group operations and engage in mine warfare, according to the Navy. The John Warner was commissioned on Saturday, August 1, in a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia. A dolphins swims in front of Navy's newest submarine, the attack submarine USS John Warner, during its sea trials in May. Perhaps the worst submarine disaster in recent memory was Russia’s loss of K-141 Kursk, which was a Project 949A Antey-class (Oscar II) nuclear-powered guided missile submarine.
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