The U.S. nuclear submarine damaged last month in the China Sea struck a seamount that was not on the maps, according to the first results of the investigation released on Monday (November 1).
"The investigation determined that the USS Connecticut struck an unmarked seamount while operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region,"
a spokeswoman said. of the US Navy Commander Hayley Sims in a statement.
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The results of the investigation into the incident have been handed to the 7th Fleet commander, Vice-Admiral Karl Thomas, who must now decide whether sanctions should be taken, the spokeswoman said.
The
USS Connecticut
, a nuclear-powered Seawolf-class submarine, struck an initially unidentified object on the afternoon of October 2 while sailing submerged in the South China Sea.
Eleven sailors were injured.
It must have surfaced, but it was still seaworthy and was able to reach the island of Guam, United States territory in the Pacific.
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China claims almost all of the South China Sea and has built military outposts there on small islands and atolls, while the United States and its allies regularly patrol the region's international waters to assert their right to freedom of navigation.