I think that is putting it nicely into a major understatement.
LVM
Norfolk Naval Shipyard and Naval Sea Systems Command engineers will examine the submarine to decide a repair plan, said Lt. Cmdr. Bob Mehal, spokesman for Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic. In the mishap, Hartford briefly touched bottom as it cruised on the surface damaging its rudder and scrapping its hull.
Follow-on post:
The version I heard was that the sub was doing "angles and dangles" and smacked its stern against the bottom.
Something isn't correct here - these statements conflict.
If the boat was "on the surface" it would not be doing "angles and dangles". That is not a surface manuver. If the boat was on the surface and ran aground, then clearly the OOD, CO, NAV, Quartermaster etc. screwed up a plot and weren't watching where they were or the depth.
On our boat, when the word was passed "prepare for angles & dangles" it meant that the boat was fully submerged, usually has some speed on and was going to me making turns and depth changes that could cause one to loose their footing or fall out of their "rack".
Think of a fighter plane taking evasive action if something was on it's tail.
If they were out to sea doing "angles and dangles", clearly the water depth was not sufficient to support their activity. They're damn lucky they didn't auger in bow first!
YMMV