【Epoch Times December 19, 2021】In today’s society, the role of weapons and the army is given a deeper meaning than killing. Strong military power is often used as a deterrent to maintain world peace and human security. Although the war became hidden, it never stopped. 【Current Affairs and Military】Take you to the forefront to see the details and truth of the battle between good and evil.
There have been many reports on the collision of the USS Connecticut nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN-22) in the South China Sea on October 2 this year. We followed the whereabouts of the Connecticut and introduced the latest developments of this submarine.
The accident caused damage to the submarine’s sonar dome, which forced it to surface and could only navigate at sea. On October 8, the Connecticut arrived in Guam from the South China Sea, where it was undergoing preliminary repairs and damage assessment.
After preliminary investigation of the accident, on November 4, the commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet Carl. Thomas (Karl Thomas) announced that he had dismissed the submarine commander, chief executive and captain on the grounds that he had lost trust in them. The commander of the U.S. Navy’s submarine force William. Houston (William Houston) told the command of the boat last month, “We have very strict navigation safety procedures, but they did not meet our standards.” The accident also caused the US Navy’s submarine force to be suspended last month. Sailing.
The Connecticut left Switch Island on November 18, heading for the west coast of the United States. The Public Affairs Department of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet and the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s submarine force refused to disclose the submarine’s movements on the grounds of safety of submarine operations, but said that the submarine must be returned to the United States for additional large-scale repairs, and Guam does not have it. The ability to repair such severe damage. It is widely speculated that the injured submarine will return to its home port in Bremerton, Washington, where it will be repaired at the Puget Naval Shipyard. There is the base of three Seawolf class submarines.
The damaged Connecticut arrived in San Diego, California from Guam after a total of 6,182 miles (9,950 kilometers) of surface voyage for 25 days. This secret sea journey must not be a pleasant trip for the sailors on the submarine. Let alone the depression caused by the accident, crossing the turbulent Pacific Ocean, the turbulence of the waves will also make it difficult for the sailors who are used to underwater snorkeling to adapt.
On the morning of the 12th, people saw the Connecticut in San Diego. This is the first time the outside world has clearly seen the damage to the submarine, and the sonar dome is no longer visible.
Although the U.S. Navy announced in early November, the cause of the accident was that the Connecticut collided with an unmarked submarine mountain in the South China Sea. However, there are still different opinions on this. There is even a theory that the CCP’s satellites monitored the location of the submarine and sent an unmanned submarine to attack. It sounds a bit like a science fiction movie. However, in the video we can see the interface structure of the sonar cover at the bow of the boat. From the perspective of the completeness of the interface structure, it is not at all the damage caused by the explosive attack. And if the CCP succeeded in attacking, the development of the story may not be what it is today. Therefore, regarding the cause of the accident, the US military’s official statement should be more reliable.
The Connecticut docked in San Diego and did not sail directly to its home port in the northern state of Washington, which may be due to the weather. Satellite cloud images from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show that there is an unstable weather zone along the west coast of the United States to the north. When the Connecticut arrived at the San Diego Naval Base, the local weather was not bad. But north of the San Francisco Bay Area, there was a stormy weather on the Pacific Ocean that lasted until the 15th. Throughout the entire journey across the Pacific, the destroyer Mustin (DDG-89) has been accompanied by the Connecticut, providing it with basic security protection. On the afternoon of the 15th, the Mustin left San Diego together with the Connecticut, and began the last part of its northward journey. Due to the bad weather on the way, it was destined to be an arduous journey for the injured submarine.
The Connecticut is a faster and better weapon designed to replace the Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine. It was built by General Dynamics, launched on September 1, 1997, and entered service in December 1998. The submarine is 353 feet long, 40 feet wide, and has a displacement of 9,137 tons. Powered by an S6W pressurized water reactor, it can generate a powerful power of 43 megawatts, and the propulsion system uses pump-jet propellers. The maximum submersible speed is 35 knots, the silent sailing speed is 20 knots, and the dive depth is 610 meters. There are 116 crew members, including 15 officers.
In order to maintain the most advanced underwater mute effect, the hull is wrapped with a full set of sound insulation layers. Adopt Raytheon’s advanced submarine combat control system (AN/BYG-1) and Raytheon’s mk2 fire control management system.
The submarine is equipped with Raytheon’s land attack and anti-ship Tomahawk cruise missiles. The land-attack Tomahawk missile has a range of 2500 kilometers. It uses various guidance systems such as auxiliary inertial navigation (TAINS) and radar. Although its speed is not fast, its flying height is only 20 to 100 meters. It breaks through with an ultra-low-altitude flight. The enemy line of defense. The anti-ship Tomahawk missile is equipped with inertial guidance, radar guidance and anti-radiation guidance missile heads, with a range of up to 450 kilometers.
It has 8 660 mm torpedo tubes and can carry 50 torpedoes. It can attack both high-performance surface ships and fast and deep-diving submarines. The torpedo warhead is 267 kilograms, with active and passive attack modes, with a range of 38 to 50 kilometers.
The modular design of the Seawolf-class submarine provides room for system upgrades and weapon development. Its electronic warfare system, sonar detection system and various missile guidance systems have all been upgraded in blocks.
The U.S. Navy has three Seawolf-class submarines, including Seawolf, Connecticut, and Jimmy Carter. They are the largest, fastest, most powerful, and most expensive weapons and equipment in the approximately 50 attack submarines in the U.S. fleet. The firepower formed by the torpedoes and various anti-ship missiles it is equipped with is enough to sink an escort fleet or even an aircraft carrier formation.
The cost of the Connecticut was more than $3 billion. Excessive costs caused the U.S. Navy to scale back its procurement plan, so only three submarines of this class were produced. Later, the U.S. Navy turned to support the new, smaller, cheaper Virginia-class attack submarines.
As usual, the U.S. Navy deploys ships of each class in turn. Because their supporting logistical and training infrastructures are basically the same, in order to keep all types of ships able to continuously participate in combat deployment, ships of each class are usually divided into three. One-third perform combat missions, one-third are in training, and the other third are in maintenance. This model explains why the U.S. Navy has about 300 first-line ships, but only deploys about 100 at a time.
Under ideal circumstances, the fleet commander can increase operational deployment in a crisis and even dispatch all warships. It is conceivable that if a large-scale maritime conflict occurs in the Western Pacific, the ships dispatched by the US Pacific Fleet will definitely not be the usual 50 or 60 ships, but more.
The formation of an overall combat capability is not only a matter of fleet size, it also requires the mobilization of large amounts of resources to operate simultaneously. Therefore, it is a big deal for a fleet to prove whether it has the ability to mobilize all ships. Especially those ships that represent the core combat power of the navy, such as the Seawolf-class submarines, are more important to the navy.
The Connecticut underwent a three-and-a-half-year overhaul between 2014 and 2016. In 2019, another half-year overhaul of the dry dock was completed with more than 32,000 working days.
As one of only three Seawolf-class submarines for special missions, the Connecticut withdrew from combat deployment, disrupting the operations of the U.S. Navy’s resources. Especially in the hotspots of the Western Pacific, where naval power is urgently needed, the impact on the U.S. Navy can be imagined.
It is still unclear about the extent of its damage and the repair period. The U.S. Naval Ocean Systems Command (NAVSEA) and the Pacific Fleet’s submarine force will determine the future fate of the Connecticut.
Written by: Xia Luoshan (Reporter of “Epoch Times“, has experienced more than ten years of military life, mainly engaged in military teaching and some technical management work)
Production: Current Affairs Military Production Team
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Editor in charge: Lian Shuhua
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