According to the Navy, the accident was caused by poor, lax leadership on the submarine and a failure to adequately prepare for and conduct the crossing of the Hormuz Strait by the crew.

[2][3] The vessel was southbound en route to Jebel Ali, while New Orleans was westbound to enter the Persian Gulf as part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group.

[4] Hartford is believed to have rolled about 85° during the collision and sustained extensive damage to its sail, periscope and port bow plane, totalling over $100 million.

Furthermore, administrative action was taken against three direct support element members assigned to Naval Information Operations Command in Georgia plus a fleet intelligence specialist based near Washington, D.C.[4] On 19 April, Hartford began a surface transit back to the U.S. for further repair, arriving two months later.

[9] After reaching home port, the U.S. Navy made three repair contracts with General Dynamics Electric Boat for a total of $102.6 million.

[11] On 28 October 2009 Vice Admiral John J. Donnelly, Commander, Naval Submarine Force, explained that the primary cause of the collision was complacency and poor management on the part of Hartford's crew.