Seawolf class submarine
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This article is about the SSN-21 class submarines. For the unique submarine see USS Seawolf (SSN-575)
| Seawolf class attack submarine | |
|---|---|
| |
| Class Overview | |
| Class Type | Attack Submarine |
| Class Name | Seawolf |
| Preceded By | Chronologically: Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine By Type: Los Angeles-class attack submarine |
| Succeeded By | Virginia-class attack submarine |
| Ships of the Class: | Seawolf Connecticut Jimmy Carter |
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 cancelled at three boats in 1995, and led to the design of the smaller and, ironically costlier, Virginia-class submarine.
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. 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 Tomahawk cruise missiles for land attack.
The class uses the more advanced 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 pumpjet propulsor.
USS 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 Halibut.
[edit] General characteristics
For all boats:
- Builders: GD Electric Boat
- Beam: 40 ft (12 m)
- Draft: 35 ft (11 m)
- Speed: 35 knots (65 km/h) dived, 20 knots (37 km/h) "silent", 25 knots "Tactical Speed"
- Propulsion: S6W reactor manufactured by Westinghouse
- Depth: 2000 ft (610 m)
- Armament: 8 × 30 inch (762 mm) torpedo tubes, 50 torpedoes or missiles, or 100 mines [1]
For SSN-21, SSN-22:
- Displacement: 9,137 tons dived, 7,460 tons surfaced
- Length: 353 ft (108 m)
- Complement (approximate): 121, including 12 officers
For SSN-23:
- Displacement: 12,158 tons dived, 10,460 tons surfaced
- Length: 453 ft (138 m)
- Complement (approximate): 126, including 15 officers, 50 SOF
USS Jimmy Carter is currently homeported in Bangor, Washington. In 2006, the Navy announced that it would homeport all three of its Seawolf submarines in Bangor.
[edit] Ships
- USS Seawolf (SSN-21), commissioned and in service
- USS Connecticut (SSN-22), commissioned and in service
- USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23), commissioned and in service
[edit] External links
- "SSN-21 Seawolf-class", FAS.org
- "SSN Seawolf class Attack Submarine, USA", naval-technology.com
| Seawolf-class submarine |
| List of submarines of the United States Navy List of submarine classes of the United States Navy |
| General Dynamics Corporation |
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