The USS Connecticut, a Seawolf-class nuclear-powered submarine of the U.S. Navy that collided with a previously unknown seamount in October 2021, may return to active service by the end of 2026, according to a report by The War Zone (TWZ).
Currently, the damaged submarine is undergoing extensive repairs at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington State. The U.S. Navy has kept updates on the vessel’s condition limited, but recent reporting has shed light on the progress.
In May, TWZ, citing an official investigation, revealed that following the underwater collision in the South China Sea, the Connecticut experienced a failure in its internal AN/BQQ-10 bow sonar system—a critical component for underwater navigation and threat detection.
Back in October 2021, the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI) reported that the USS Connecticut had struck an unidentified object in a region bounded by Hainan Island, the Paracel Islands, and the Bashi Channel, a strategically sensitive and heavily surveilled maritime area.
