Seawolf class submarine

The "Seawolf class" attack submarine (SSN) was the intended successor to the "Los Angeles" class, ordered at the end of the Cold War in 1989. At one time, an intended fleet of 29 submarines was to be built over a ten-year period, later reduced to twelve. The end of the Cold War and budget constraints led to the fleet being canceled at three boats in 1995, and led to the design of the smaller "Virginia" class.

They are quieter than the previous "Los Angeles" class submarines, larger, faster, have twice as many torpedo tubes for a total of 8, and carry more weapons, but were also much more expensive. They were intended to combat the then-threat of large numbers of advanced Soviet ballistic-missile submarines in deep ocean, such as the "Typhoon" class, and to reply to the new Soviet "Akula" class attack submarines. They were built using HY-100 steel rather than HY-80 steel which is what previous classes had used. However they also have extensive equipment for shallow-water operations, including a floodable silo capable of deploying eight combat swimmers and their equipment at once. The boats can also carry up to 50 UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles for attacking land and shipping targets.

The projected cost for twelve submarines of this class was $33.6 billion dollars. But after the Cold War, construction was stopped at three boats. [cite web|url=http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/ssn-21.htm|title=SSN-21 Seawolf Class|accessdate=2008-08-30]

The class uses the more advanced ARCI Modified AN/BSY-2 combat system, which includes a new larger spherical sonar array, a wide aperture array (WAA), and a new towed-array sonar. Each boat is powered by a single S6W nuclear reactor, delivering 52,000 hp (39 MW) to a low-noise screw.

"Jimmy Carter" is roughly 100 feet (30 m) longer than the other two ships of her class due to the insertion of a section known as the Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), which allows launch and recovery of ROVs and Navy SEAL forces. The MMP may also be used as an underwater splicing chamber for tapping of undersea fiber optic cables. This role was formerly filled by the decommissioned USS "Parche". The "Jimmy Carter" was modified for this role by Electric Boat and cost $887 million dollars. [cite web|url=http://www.gdeb.com/programs/seawolf/|title=Seawolf Class|accessdate=2008-08-30]

USS "Jimmy Carter" is currently home ported in Bangor, Washington. In 2006, the Navy announced that it would home port all three of its "Seawolf" submarines in Bangor.

Boats

* "Seawolf" (SSN-21), commissioned and in service
* "Connecticut" (SSN-22), commissioned and in service
* "Jimmy Carter" (SSN-23), commissioned and in service

References

ee also

*"Virginia" class submarine
*"Los Angeles" class submarine
*List of submarine classes of the United States Navy
*Submarines in the United States Navy
*List of submarines of the United States Navy

External links