[HN Gopher] USS Connecticut (SSN 22) struck an object while subm...
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       USS Connecticut (SSN 22) struck an object while submerged on Oct. 2
        
       Author : executive
       Score  : 31 points
       Date   : 2021-10-07 22:17 UTC (42 minutes ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cpf.navy.mil)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cpf.navy.mil)
        
       | protomyth wrote:
       | _USS Connecticut (SSN 22) struck an object while submerged on
       | Oct. 2, while operating in international waters in the Indo-
       | Pacific region._
       | 
       | A Sea Wolf attack submarine struct something in the South China
       | Sea. I get the feeling it hit another sub or some anti-sub
       | defense. This is definitely a non-good event.
        
         | executive wrote:
         | Twitter says it did not hit another sub.
         | 
         | https://twitter.com/LucasFoxNews/status/1446190294693781509
        
         | paranoidrobot wrote:
         | There's a lot of shipping in that region.
         | 
         | A lot of cargo containers are lost overboard. They don't all
         | immediately sink to the bottom (sealed air, bouyant cargo, etc)
         | 
         | What's the sonar signature of a 40 foot shipping container
         | that's just floating below the surface? Are you even going to
         | hear it without going active?
         | 
         | What kind of damage does that do, if your submarine plows into
         | it, even at a slow speed? My understanding is that the bow
         | isn't entirely metal, that there's fiberglass (or something
         | similar) where the sonar equipment is located.
        
       | jedc wrote:
       | Former Navy submarine officer here. This sucks, but it happens.
       | (It happened to a boat I was on.)
       | 
       | It could be hitting the bottom of the ocean (which nearly killed
       | 130+ people on the USS San Francisco years ago -
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_San_Francisco_(SSN-711)#Co...),
       | it could be hitting another ship above it (coming to and/or
       | operating at periscope depth is dangerous), or potentially
       | another sub.
       | 
       | Invariably people get fired, and whatever happens becomes a
       | lesson learned that the Navy trains on in the future.
        
         | ethbr0 wrote:
         | What's the sensation inside the boat? Noise? Impact? Momentum
         | change?
         | 
         | I imagine it'd be like being on a glacier, hitting another
         | glacier.
        
       | zozin wrote:
       | Some additional information.
       | https://news.usni.org/2021/10/07/breaking-attack-submarine-u...
       | 
       | Looks like 11 sailors were hurt. Very interesting indeed. Some
       | sort of reconnaissance buoy? Or perhaps they were traveling close
       | to the bottom of the South China Sea and hit the bottom? China
       | considers the South China Sea an internal lake, so they would
       | think they're within their rights to mine it or otherwise defend
       | it with submarine nets or booms. I imagine within the context of
       | a larger conflict the PLAN would enact all sorts of submarine
       | countermeasures in the South China Sea. This is why the lack of
       | clarity/conflict regarding ownership of that body of water is so
       | dangerous for the rest of the world.
        
       | skunkworker wrote:
       | "As for what the submarine hit, details remain limit. U.S.
       | officials have reportedly said that there are no indications at
       | present that the "object" was another submarine. "An official who
       | requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak on
       | the record said that the area's topography at the time did not
       | indicate there was a land mass in front of the boat," Military
       | Times reported."
       | 
       | https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/42669/one-of-the-navys...
        
       | EastOfTruth wrote:
       | maybe it hit a pipeline....
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-07 23:00 UTC)