At the end of the day on November 4, with reference to the top officials in the command of the US Navy, two messages came about the causes of the emergency with the American nuclear submarine USS Connecticut in the South China Sea and about who and what responsibility was incurred for what happened.
The hypothesis we expressed in hot pursuit was confirmed that the mysterious NGO - "unidentified underwater object", with which the ill-fated submarine did not miss, turned out to be a hill on the seabed - a bank, a reef, a seamount, whatever it was called. Such incidents have happened more than once in the history of scuba diving.
The peculiarity of the current case is that the crew of a modern multipurpose nuclear submarine, which is equipped with everything necessary to prevent this from happening, collided with the mountain. USS Connecticut is an underwater hunter, for whom the main thing is to see and hear everything around. And even next to you and right on the course - even more so. But for some reason they did not see and allowed a dangerous collision.
The first results of the investigation are harsh. According to TASS, the commander of the USS Connecticut Cameron Algilani and senior officers have been relieved of their posts due to loss of trust. According to the commander of the US Seventh Fleet, Vice Admiral Carl Thomas, whose words are quoted in the message, the incident could have been avoided in the case of "prudent decision-making" and "following the required procedures."
Earlier, with reference to the US Secretary of the Navy Carlos del Toro, it was reported that the investigation of the state of emergency continues. And before its official completion, the minister did not make predictions about who and how can be punished. "If it is necessary to bring someone to justice, they will be brought," the head of the Navy made it clear in the most general form.
And the injured submarine remains at the base in Guam for the time being. After assessing all the damage, she will presumably be sent for repair to one of the bases of the Pacific coast of the United States.
Recall that the Seawolf-class nuclear submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) collided with an object while submerged in the afternoon of October 2 in the international waters of the Indo-Pacific region. 11 crew members received injuries of varying severity. Ten days later, the Chinese analytical center SCSPI published a report that the accident site was located to the east of the Paracel Islands - about 150 miles from Lincoln Island (Chinese name - Dongdao).
According to Chinese analysts, the submarine before the incident could work out a conditional interception of Chinese submarines on the route of the transition of the US Navy carrier strike group led by the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson.
Alexander Emelianenkov
