[EA-3167]

Remember we now KNOW for sure that the sub imploded, given the debris field, which means a sound loud enough to be picked up was generated. The Navy staying schtum on this does no one any good. It's also possible that someone in the political leadership overrode the preferences of people concerned about intelligence, but in this case I suspect that it's just pointless to deny it, so why not leak it now when it's going to be swamped by the news cycle.

[neodymiumphish]

They informed the incident commander. The people who needed to know did, and the public remained in the dark. While it may dishearten some, it was probably the right call.

[EA-3167]

Plus in the dark or not, I think most people understood what must have happened there, and only a very few die-hard optimists expected a different result.

[shusaku]

> It's also possible that someone in the political leadership overrode the preferences of people concerned about intelligence, but in this case I suspect that it's just pointless to deny it

Actually, they probably do like announcing to the world “we heard it”, to hype up their capabilities and spook their adversaries. That’s why you wait, you don’t want to say you heard it and be wrong.

[jhoechtl]

Is schtum jidisch? The german word is stumm.

[nielsbot]

Wiktionary says it’s an alternate spelling of “shtum”

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/shtum

(English, from Yiddish)

[SpecialistK]

Yes, it's been adopted in Cockney English from Yiddish influence.