Alliance consequences of a covert attack at sea

What if the CIA knowingly sank a British ship with all hands and the attack became public?

It would cause a major alliance and presidential-control crisis, probably forcing the agency to be renamed and reorganized.

The United States would have to choose between owning an attack on an ally and admitting that its intelligence agency had acted beyond presidential control. Either explanation would inflict severe reputational damage because Cold War leadership depended on confidence that American alliances were reciprocal. If Washington treated a deliberate attack on a Royal Navy submarine as acceptable, other states would have little reason to trust American security promises. An accidental strike might be contained through an unreserved apology and prosecution of those who ignored safeguards, but a knowingly ordered attack offers no such escape. Rebranding and reorganizing the agency could demonstrate a break with the discredited action without abolishing intelligence work altogether.