Damaged by an unidentified object in early October in the China Sea, the American nuclear submarine had in fact struck underwater relief, according to the preliminary results of the investigation.
The USS Connecticut "crashed into an unmarked seamount while operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region," a US Navy spokeswoman said, Commander Hayley Sims, in a statement.
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.
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This nuclear-powered Seawolf-class submersible struck an initially unidentified object on the afternoon of October 2, while sailing submerged in the South China Sea.
Eleven sailors were injured.
The incident had forced him to surface but, still seaworthy, he was able to reach the island of Guam, United States territory in the Pacific.
Threats and tensions
Beijing, which claims almost all of the South China Sea, was at the time quite annoyed by the location of this American nuclear submarine. Asked about the first results of the American investigation, the Chinese government on Tuesday urged the United States to "give details" on the accident. Washington "has never given a clear explanation of the intentions of the nuclear submarine, or the precise location of the accident," Chinese diplomacy spokesman Wang Wenbin told reporters.
Wang urged the United States to “stop” sending nuclear submarines to the China Sea, otherwise such incidents will become “more frequent”.
This Indo-Pacific zone has been a zone of tension for some time.
China is building islands and atolls there to control it, while the United States and its allies regularly patrol the region's international waters to assert their right to freedom of navigation.
