October 15, 2021
Was the USS Connecticut Spying on Chinese Bases in the South China Sea?
New technology aboard attack submarines like Connecticut make it one of the Navy's best assets for covert surveillance and reconnaissance.
by Kris Osborn
The exact nature of last week’s collision in which a Navy Seawolf-class submarine “struck an object” is still unclear. What was hit? Perhaps of even greater significance, what mission led one of the Navy’s most capable submarines to cruise waters in or around the South China Sea?
“The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) struck an object while submerged on the afternoon of Oct. 2, while operating in international waters in the Indo-Pacific region,” a press release from the U.S. Pacific Fleet said. “The safety of the crew remains the Navy’s top priority. There are no life threatening injuries.”
The incident is still under investigation. However, the collision does draw attention to the clandestine reconnaissance missions sometimes undertaken by attack submarines. These missions usually receive little attention despite playing their outsized importance.
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/was-uss-connecticut-spying-chinese-bases-south-china-sea-195053
