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Seawolf (SSN-21)

USINFO | 2013-09-29 16:22

The USS Seawolf conducting sea trials.
Career (US)
Namesake:	Seawolf
Awarded:	9 January 1989
Builder:	General Dynamics Electric Boat
Laid down:	25 October 1989
Launched:	24 June 1995
Commissioned:	19 July 1997
Homeport:	Naval Base Kitsap, Bremerton, Washington
Motto:	Cave Lupum ("Beware the Wolf")
Status:	in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class & type:	Seawolf-class submarine
Length:	353 ft (108 m)
Beam:	40 ft (12 m)
Draft:	36 ft (11 m)
Propulsion:	One S6W reactor
Speed:	25+ knots submerged, 18+ knots surfaced
Test depth:	Greater than 800ft
Complement:	15 officers and 101 men
Armament:	eight 26-inch torpedo tubes, 40torpedoes and missiles, or 100 mines

USS Seawolf (SSN-21), the lead ship of her class, is the fourth submarine of the United States Navy named for the seawolf, a solitary fish with strong, prominent teeth and projecting tusks that give it a savage look. The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division ofGeneral Dynamics and Newport News Shipbuilding on 9 January 1989 and her keel was laid down on 25 October 1989. She was launched on 24 June 1995, sponsored by Mrs. Margaret Dalton, and commissioned on 19 July 1997 with Commander David M. McCall in command.

History

The USS Seawolf was a product of the Cold War, designed as a replacement for the Los Angeles-class submarines and as a response to the SovietAkula class. According to the Navy's "Undersea Warfare" magazine, Seawolf is quieter at high speed than a Los Angeles submarine is pierside.^[1]Originally 29 were planned for production, but with the end of the Cold War, the cost was judged to be prohibitively high and only 3 were built in favor of the smaller Virginia-class submarines, which were expected to be about 10% cheaper.
Between 25–27 March 2006, a series of anti-submarine warfare exercises were held in Hawaiian waters that included the Seawolf; Carrier Strike Group Nine; the nuclear-powered attack submarines Cheyenne, Greeneville, Tucson, and Pasadena, as well as land-based P-3 Orion aircraft from patrol squadrons VP-4, VP-9, and VP-47.^[2]^[3]
On 22 July 2007, the submarine transferred from her previous homeport of Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, to permanently reside at Naval Base Kitsap in Bremerton, Washington.^[4]
Adding support personnel as well as ship's crew, there are 140 personnel attached to the Seawolf.^[4]

Awards

1997