One of the submarines in the United States had been on tour underwater in the depths of the South China Sea. However, an unexpected event happened to the nuclear-power ship during its venture on the specified water bodies. According to the federal updates, the US submarine unintentionally collided with an uncharted underwater mountain, also known as a seamount. This lead to a comprehensive investigation by the US Navy which was also supported by other agencies that specialize in underwater and environmental matters.
Collision of US Submarine in the South China Sea
The specified submarine that go through the unintended collision was the USS Connecticut. The watercraft is considered to be one of the country's fast-attack and Seawolf-class submarines. According to a report by Live Science, the submarine crashed with an underwater terrain on October 2. The material was not recorded on previous underwater data and was deemed uncharted according to the federal update.
The US submarine incurred several damages after the collision and traveled unassisted. Fortunately, the USS Connecticut resurfaced afterward in a port located at Guam. The Associated Press reported that the US Navy did not release any information about the extent of damage inflicted to the submarine. The update from the agency emphasized that the collision took place without the participation of a separate submarine. The USS Connecticut identified various degrees of injury to 11 of its crewmembers.
The United States 7th Fleet released a statement on November 1 regarding the matter. In the report, they confirmed that the USS Connecticut did collide with an uncharted seamount. Moreover, the fleet's commander is responsible for the unfortunate event and will take any follow-on actions appropriate following the collision. NPR reported that the statement seemingly highlights a human error in the South China Sea accident.
Uncharted Seamounts, Explained
In 2005, a seamount located near the regions of Guam was pointed out as the cause of the collision of the USS San Francisco. This similar case with an uncharted seamount resulted in numerous injuries and one death among the 137 crewmembers. The ship runs at its top speed of 30 knots or 34.5 miles per hour when it hit the underwater formation.
Seamounts are underwater terrains that have structures similar to inland mountains. Seamounts are massive residues of the ancient and extinct volcano eruption underwater. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that the oceanic terrains are full of marine organisms due to the present nutrients that were brought from the deep sea. Most of the species that could be found covering seamounts are sponges and corals.
NOAA said that even though 100,000 seamounts are present in the ocean floor that towers up to 1,000 meters, there are only under 0.1 percent of the terrains discovered up until today. The experts theorize that 28.8 million square kilometers of the Earth's ocean floor are covered with seamounts. If compiled with each other, the seamounts could exceed the total area of the planet's surface which is covered with tundra, deserts, and other land-based formation.
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