The secretive, damaged and pricey fast-attack submarine Connecticut, which struck an undersea mountain in October, pulled into San Diego Sunday after transiting from Guam.
Navy officials declined Monday to say why the sub is in Southern California, what damage the stealthy boat sustained and when it will head north to Washington’s Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for repairs.
In response to several questions regarding Connecticut, Submarine Force Pacific spokeswoman Cmdr. Cynthia Fields would only confirm that the boat was in San Diego and that “the submarine remains in a safe and stable condition.”
Fields also declined to answers questions in connection to media reports that Connecticut had to transit to San Diego at the surface because the collision damage had impeded its ability to safely travel underwater.
News of Connecticut’s arrival in California was first posted to Twitter Sunday by the @WarshipCam account, which tracks the coming and going of vessels.
Connecticut collided with an undersea mountain in the South China Sea Oct. 2, and 11 sailors sustained minor injuries in the mishap.
It made its way to Guam for damage assessment, and the command triad was relieved in November.
Later that month, the head of U.S. Submarine Forces ordered a community-wide navigation stand-down.
While officials declined to provide details on the precise substance of the stand-down, they said it would serve as a refresher course on navigation and other best practices in the submarine community.
While the community appears to be spreading lessons learned from the mishap, officials have not indicated when the Navy’s investigations into the mishap will be made public, although Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday has said they will be in the future.
“We’ll get to the point where we can release those investigations, absolutely,” Gilday told reporters last month.
Geoff is the managing editor of Military Times, but he still loves writing stories. He covered Iraq and Afghanistan extensively and was a reporter at the Chicago Tribune. He welcomes any and all kinds of tips at geoffz@militarytimes.com.
