The Navy on Thursday said one of its attack submarines recently struck an undisclosed object while submerged in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region.
The Seawolf-class nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Connecticut
(SSN-22) struck the object on Oct. 2.
The service said there are no life threatening injuries and the submarine is in safe and stable condition.
“The safety of the crew remains the Navy’s top priority. There are no life threatening injuries,” the Navy said in a statement.
A defense official told Defense Daily about 11 sailors were injured and characterized them as bumps, scrapes and lacerations.
The service underscored the Connecticut’s nuclear propulsion plant and spaces are fully operational and were not affected by the collision while the extend of the damage to the rest of the vessel is being assessed.
The Navy said it has not requested assistance, the vessel is headed to port on its own power, and the incident will be investigated.
The official said the submarine headed to Guam on its own power and was set to arrive today.
SSN-22 is one of three Seawolf-class boats originally designed to track Soviet submarines in the deep ocean.
The Connecticut departed its homeport at Bremerton, Wash. in May for a deployment in the 3rd and 7th Fleet areas of operations. In July, the Defense Department released photos showing SSN-22 at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan for a port visit.