The Sea Wolf class nuclear submarine, which was accidentally hit by the US military in the South China Sea, has revealed a photo of its hull. The damage to the submarine is very serious, and the entire bow has been flattened and the sonar compartment has been severely damaged. It is highly likely that it will be scrapped and retired early. Is this really a collision with the Sea God's Needle in the South China Sea?

According to Global Times, on December 13th, American media captured footage of the US Navy's Seawolf class nuclear submarine Connecticut, which was severely damaged in early October due to an underwater "mountain collision" accident. After a secret voyage and transfer, the submarine appeared in San Diego, California, on the west coast of the United States. According to analysis, this submarine should have sailed from Hawaii to this point in a floating posture.

On October 2nd of this year, the "Sea Wolf" class nuclear powered attack submarine "Connecticut" (SSN-22), which has been in service for 23 years but is still the most advanced and powerful in the world today, "collided with an object underwater in the South China Sea", causing damage to the submarine and injuring 11 crew members.

After the collision, the injured USS Connecticut was only able to return to the US military base in Guam in a surface state, and it took nearly a week before returning. The Sea Wolf class attack submarine "Connecticut" is docked in a remote corner of the Guam Naval Base. The US Navy strictly keeps confidential the injuries caused by the impact of the Sea Wolf class nuclear submarine, and even prohibits unrelated personnel from approaching the submarine. Those who approach the submarine are also prohibited from carrying mobile phones.

The US military has not provided detailed explanations regarding the location, cause, and extent of damage caused by the accident. There are also different opinions from the outside world about the damage to this nuclear submarine. However, the captain of the Connecticut nuclear submarine, Lieutenant Colonel Myron Algilani, the deputy captain, Major Patrick Cushing, and the boatswain, Corey Rogers, were relieved of their duties. Commanders one, two, and three have all been eliminated, indicating that there was a significant human factor in the submarine collision incident, and there may have been serious erroneous instructions and insufficient judgment.

At present, the closest assessment to the real situation is that at the end of October, China's satellite remote sensing think tank "Remote Sensing Think Tank" used the latest open-source satellite images and adopted technical methods such as target recognition, image analysis, information extraction, and quantitative comparison to judge the status of the "Connecticut" nuclear powered attack submarine.

The Remote Sensing Think Tank believes that the fairing at the bow of the USS Connecticut submarine is suspected to be severely damaged. It is speculated that the collision site of the submarine was the bow, the bottom below the waterline, and the tail thruster. It is suspected that an unidentified object with slightly lower hardness, larger height difference, and a certain area was hit during the diving process, which is likely an unidentified underwater mountain, causing varying degrees of damage to the bottom of the nuclear submarine from front to back.

And this time, the appearance of the "Connecticut" nuclear powered attack submarine in San Diego was captured by the media with damage to the bow, which is very consistent with the previous research conclusion of China's "Remote Sensing Think Tank". It can be seen that the intelligence analysis capabilities of professional think tanks in our country are very strong.

The USS Connecticut nuclear submarine sailed to San Diego for a brief correction and is likely to continue sailing as San Diego does not have a suitable shipyard facility for the overhaul of the Sea Wolf class nuclear submarine. Therefore, its final destination is likely to be the Bremerton Naval Base in Washington State, which is the homeport of the Sea Wolf class nuclear submarine. The other two Sea Wolf class nuclear submarines also stayed here.

The Sea Wolf class is currently the world's most advanced nuclear powered attack submarine, with only three built. It was originally designed to track Soviet ballistic missile strategic nuclear submarines in the Arctic during cold times. Despite being an old submarine that has been in service for 23 years, the Sea Wolf class submarine is recognized as the "king of nuclear submarines" in the world's navies due to its advanced technology, extremely low noise, and incredible performance with a depth of 600 meters and a silent high speed of 20 knots. The performance should exceed the current Virginia class nuclear submarines of the US military and also far surpass Russia's latest Yasen class nuclear submarines.

According to analysis, the submarine was hitting the slope of an underwater mountain at a high speed of about 20 knots, causing the sonar cabin at the bow of the submarine to be destroyed and the front ballast tank of the submarine to be severely damaged. This means that if the submarine is to be repaired, the entire front part of the submarine needs to be replaced. We need to cut off the front of the entire hull and replace it with a new bow.

The droplet shaped head of the Sea Wolf class nuclear submarine is non pressure resistant. In addition to being used for fluid rectification of the submarine, its more important function is to accommodate the bow sonar, and almost all of the space here is occupied by a huge active sonar. The sonar cabin fairing is made of titanium alloy rubber acoustic composite material, filled with seawater, and a spherical acoustic transducer array for sonar is placed in the middle, as active sonar needs to work in seawater. If a high-power sonar is turned on in the air, it will shake itself to pieces.

The volume of the acoustic transducer in active sonar is quite large, with a diameter of about 5 meters and a weight of tens of tons. The rear of the sonar compartment is the front ballast compartment, which is a non pressure resistant structure separate from the submarine's pressure hull. However, such a severe impact will definitely have an impact on the pressure hull. After being hit, the boat returned to Guam and Hawaii in a surface state, and then crossed the Pacific Ocean in a surface state, indicating that the boat may have lost its diving ability and requires large-scale repairs.

The last time the San Francisco nuclear submarine collided with the underwater mountain in 2005, the same front ballast tank was damaged. Helpless, the US Navy removed the bow components from the retired Honolulu nuclear submarine and installed them on the San Francisco.

However, the current Sea Wolf class is quite unfortunate. Only three Sea Wolf class ships have been built and there are no replacement retired boats available. If a new bow is to be built, the workload would be too large.

Many naval experts believe that the damage to the vessel is so severe that it may have to be scrapped and retired early. Some people in the United States suggest directly scrapping and dismantling this submarine as a spare part for the other two active Sea Wolf class nuclear submarines.

Source: Military Black Technology