Two U.S. Navy vessels - a nuclear-powered submarine and an amphibious ship - collided during the early morning hours Friday in the Strait of Hormuz between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet stated. There was no damage to the sub's nuclear propulsion system, said Lt. Nate Christensen, a 5th Fleet spokesman.
According to the AP, the military said in a statement that the incident occurred around 1:00 a.m. local time on Friday, when the USS Hartford, a submarine, and the USS New Orleans, an amphibious ship, collided. According to the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet, 15 sailors aboard the Hartford were slightly hurt but able to return to duty. No injuries were reported aboard the New Orleans.
Both ships were heading to port and were going in the same direction when the incident occurred in the narrow strait, said 5th Fleet spokesman, Lt. Nate Christensen. He said the incident occurred at night and the submarine was submerged at the time.
Both vessels are now heading to port for repairs and evaluation.
The New Orleans suffered a ruptured fuel tank, resulting in an oil spill of approximately 25,000 gallons (95,000 liters) of diesel fuel.
The Navy said both ships were on regularly scheduled deployments to the region and conducting security operations.
