I forgot to comment on the fancy of an A212 submarine entering Puget Sound. I would expect the Navy to have both passive and active sonar at the entrance to the Sound, and particularly at the entrance to Hood Canal. No submarine is invisible to active sonar. Any non-responsive intruder would be challenged and/or sunk.
Why shouldn't a submarine surface in "the midst of a highly capable U.S. fleet"? Does that mean it wasn't detected? No, not at all. We are not in the practice of conducting anti-submarine warfare against anyone else enjoying freedom of navigation. If some stranger joins my hiking party---but I knew of his approach---do I simply shoot him when he turns up? I think you are suffering from a "fixed mental position" in assuming its unintercepted appearance means it was undetected.
I forgot to comment on the fancy of an A212 submarine entering Puget Sound. I would expect the Navy to have both passive and active sonar at the entrance to the Sound, and particularly at the entrance to Hood Canal. No submarine is invisible to active sonar. Any non-responsive intruder would be challenged and/or sunk.
Why shouldn't a submarine surface in "the midst of a highly capable U.S. fleet"? Does that mean it wasn't detected? No, not at all. We are not in the practice of conducting anti-submarine warfare against anyone else enjoying freedom of navigation. If some stranger joins my hiking party---but I knew of his approach---do I simply shoot him when he turns up? I think you are suffering from a "fixed mental position" in assuming its unintercepted appearance means it was undetected.