Enlisted men's berthing areas sleep 40 in four-high racks separated by an aisle as wide as you'll find on a train. But on Seawolf they are hardly claustrophobic. The command and control center- Seawolf's nerve center-has the feel of, and about as much headroom as, a basement recreation room.Īs on all submarines, living quarters are tighter than on surface vessels. Living and work space is located toward the bow. The aft two-thirds of Seawolf houses her General Electric S6W pressurized-water nuclear reactor, condensers, a pair of steam turbines and a secondary electric motor. ![]() to employ the naval equivalent of Detroit's cab-forward design. The resulting cigar-versus-cigarette geometry has enabled Electric Boat Corp. Seawolf-class boats also have 7 feet more beam than Los Angeles-class boats. These older versions have 27-foot-diameter hulls, but the Seawolf sports a 40-foot beam. At 353 feet, she is only slightly longer than her two immediate predecessors, the early nuclear submarine Seawolf SSN 575 and World War II-era Seawolf SS-197. Seawolf is not only agile but larger than her dimensions suggest. I can't believe I'm inside a 52,000-hp submarine, plowing furrows in the Atlantic. The digital compass shows the boat-which weighs 9,150 tons submerged-is halfway toward its new heading. As the rudder indicator confirms my maneuver, I detect a slight sway. To my surprise, the helm answers with as much back pressure as the steering wheel on my Subaru. I plant my feet squarely on the linoleum deck tiles and begin the turn. Shirley orders “5 degree left rudder" to bring us to a new heading of 117. After a quick rundown of the instruments, helmsman Billy J. The ride quickly turns into an adventure when we reach open water and McCall asks me, "Do you want to drive?" I'm recalling old submarine movies as I settle into the lightly padded driver's seat and wrap my hands around the wheel's black vinyl grip. Popular Mechanics was invited to go for a spin in Seawolf during pre-operational testing off Florida's coast. ![]() Bob Aronson, the boat's executive officer. "At 25 knots, our boat is quieter than the last Los Angeles-class submarines sitting at the pier," says Lt. Besides being fast, Seawolf-class submarines, of which Seawolf SSN-21 is the first of three, are the stealthiest vessels in the Navy's fleet. Some say the boat is so fast McCall could earn speeding tickets at sea. On the record, Seawolf's top speed exceeds 25 knots. The Navy has indulged McCall's need for speed by giving him command of its fastest attack submarine ever, the USS Seawolf. "I like to drive fast," he says, "I like to drive very fast." pivoted away from these heavily armed behemoths of the deep, but the Navy's upcoming submarine, currently named the SSN(X), could be as armed to the teeth as its Seawolf forebear, a signal that times are changing on the high seas.Ĭapt. Navy's newest (and deadliest) attack submarine, the USS Seawolf. Or it is possible that the submarine in Dry Dock 2 is a Virginia-class submarine, also devoid of sailfins.In the January 1998 issue, Popular Mechanics boarded the U.S. ![]() However, bear in mind that there are three Seawolf-class nuclear-powered attack submarines, USS Seawolf (SSN 21), USS Connecticut (SSN 22-damaged), and USS Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) and that submarine operations are Classified Secret so it is possible that another Seawolf submarine is in Dry Dock 2 undergoing maintenance. Thus, SSN 22’s exact repair location remains unknown as of 2023, and one can only speculate if Connecticut is indeed in Dry Dock 2 as that submarine’s sail does not appear to have fins. SSN 22’s sail has a distinctive shape and will not cast sailfin shadows. A visual scan of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard inīremerton, Washington, in early 2023 reveals submarines with sailfins parked or in various states of USS Connecticut has no fins attached to its vertical sail. ![]() There is a submarine under extensive white tents and tarps backed into Dry Dock 2, but the intact bow in the satellite photo appears very evident and it is unknown if this is SSN 22 although it would seem highly unlikely that a new bow can be installed in a month’s time from February 2023. A scan of the rest of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 2023 does not reveal a submarine with a sheared off bow as most of the parked submarines have sailfins. A scan of Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on GoogleMaps imagery dated 2023 shows two submarines in Dry Dock 5, but their sailfins (or sailfin shadow) are clearly evident in the satellite photo and the USS Connecticut does not have any horizontal triangular fins on its vertical sail.
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