Damaged Submarine USS Connecticut Arrives In San Diego On Surface With Missing Sonar Dome

A month after it reportedly set sail from Guam, U.S. Navy's damaged Seawolf-class submarine USS Connecticut pulled into San Diego early Sunday, transiting the entire journey on the surface.

The submarine was spotted entering the San Diego Bay with its entire bow sonar dome missing, leaving it unsafe to travel underwater, reported USNI News.

The vessel had suffered damage after a collision in the South China Sea in October. An image of the vessel pulling into the harbor was first shared by Ship spotter WarshipCam.

According to Cmdr. Cynthia Fields, a Navy spokeswoman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, the submarine is "safe and stable" following a journey across the Pacific Ocean from Guam. Though the sub is expected to return to its homeport in Bremerton soon, it is unclear when.

USS Connecticut opted to leave Guam as the latter does not have a drydock to make significant repairs, reports The Drive.

Though Pearl Harbor is the closest location with such capabilities, Connecticut likely decided not to get its repairs done there because its drydock facilities are heavily tasked. The facilities at Pearl Harbour are also a "strategic asset" in the Pacific. Connecticut calling on the drydock there for repairs would affect their capacity, possibly for years, the report added.

The report also mentions that the destroyer USS Mustin arrived in San Diego soon after USS Connecticut, hinting that the ship may have provided security for the submarine on at least part of its voyage.

According to the U.S. Navy, USS Connecticut struck an unmapped seamount in early October in the South China Sea. The collision damaged its ballast tanks and forward section. The accident that occurred on Oct. 2 left 11 crew members injured.

Analysts who studied the satellite images that appeared last month had said that it was almost clear that the sub was involved in a "head-on collision that cracked its sonar dome," an important sensor system. This reportedly had left the vessel effectively blind and deaf underwater and had to escape immediately.

However, the Navy had consistently maintained that Connecticut's nuclear reactor and the rest of its propulsion system were not damaged in the accident.

After the collision, the boat sailed on the surface to Guam, arriving on Oct. 8 for initial repairs and a damage assessment. It left Guam last month, under its own power.