Seawolf class submarine

From Free net encyclopedia

1 Seawolf (SSN-575) class
2 Seawolf (SSN-21) class
- 2.1 General characteristics
- 2.2 Ships
3 External links

Seawolf (SSN-575) class

The second nuclear-powered submarine, USS Seawolf (SSN-575), which served from the early 1950s through 1987, was unique, and so can be considered the lead boat of the "Seawolf (SSN-575) class". Since she had no sister ships, however, there is no distinction between information about that boat and that "class", and references to Seawolf-class submarines may be safely assumed to refer to the three boats listed below, members of the Seawolf (SSN-21) class.

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Seawolf (SSN-21) class

Seawolf class attack submarine
Image:USNavySeawolfSubmarine.jpg
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 potentially cheaper 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 the new Soviet Lira or Alfa 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.

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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 General Electric
Depth: 610 m
Armament: 8 × 26 inch (660 mm) torpedo tubes, 50 torpedoes or missiles, or 100 mines

For SSN-21, SSN-22: