Naturally, the Carter's clandestine activities remain a secret, though its reception of numerous unit citations for unspecified reasons suggest an eventful operational career. It is also understood to carry instruments allowing it to tap the undersea cables through which the internet and other long-distance communications travel. The 12,000-ton Carter also boasts thrusters allowing it to maneuver more precisely while in treacherous shallow waters and ocean floors. Its hull was lengthened by 30 meters to incorporate a special multi-mission platform which can carry divers, or manned or unmanned underwater reconnaissance vehicles which can be deployed using special locks. The last boat, the Carter uniquely was modified at an extra cost of $887 million into the ultimate spy and special operations submarine. All three are based on the Pacific Ocean at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington State. Thus the Seawolf order was downsized to just three submarines which launched between 19: the Seawolf, the Connecticut, and the Jimmy Carter, numbered SSN-21 through 23. Oceanic background noise averages 90 decibels.Įven better, the Seawolf's propeller-less pump-jet propulsion system allowed it to maintain acoustic stealth even when cruising a brisk 20 knots, whereas most submarines are forced to crawl at 5-12 knots to remain discrete. Moreover, its S6W pressurized water reactor gave the Seawolf an extraordinary maximum speed of 35 knots (40 mph), allowing it to chase down disengaging adversaries.īut most impressive were the Seawolf's advancements in acoustic stealth: A Seawolf was an order of magnitude quieter than even the Improved Los Angeles boats at 95 decibels. Its sail (conning tower) was reinforced for operations Arctic ice, where Soviet ballistic-missile submarines were known to lurk. The Seawolf submarine was built entirely out of higher-strength HY-100 steel so that it could endure dives as deep as 490 meters. Officers and crew of USS Jimmy Carter in the Hood Canal on the way to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor in Washington state. The Seawolf could also use the tubes to launch surface-attack Tomahawk missiles. (The tubes size was meant to future-proof in case the Navy adopted larger weapons. Whereas the Los Angeles carried 37 torpedoes in four tubes, the Seawolf could lug 50 heavy-weight 533-millimeter Mark 48 torpedoes or Harpoon anti-ship missiles, which it could launch through eight over-sized 660-millimeter torpedo tubes. The resulting Seawolf laid down by Electric Boat in October 1989 had a wider hull than the 7,000-ton Los Angeles, displacing over 9,000 tons submerged and measuring 108 meters in length. As the Pentagon was flush with money during the Reagan administration, in 1983 the Navy began designing the biggest, baddest - and fastest and quietest - attack submarine possible to restore its edge over the Soviet Navy. US Navy studies concluded the Akula exceeded the mainstay of the US submarine force, the Los Angeles class, for acoustic stealth and roughly matched the Improved Los Angeles variant. With the modified spy sub, the VPM space could account for the extra space needed for the multi-mission platform.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. Newer generation Virginia-class subs are equipped with Virginia Payload Modules, or VPM, to carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, extending the sub's body by 84 feet. Because the MMP connects the fore and aft sections of the submarine, a tapered passageway called a "wasp waist" passes through the MMP, allowing crew and boat-length wiring to connect both ends of the craft. The multi-mission platform, or MMP, is a fortified section of the hull that can turn the submarine into a hangar of sorts for a host of deep-sea exploratory instruments. Like the submarine under construction, the Jimmy Carter sports a 100-foot hull extension called a multi-mission platform. SeptemSSN Seawolf Class The Seawolf was designed as a faster, better-armed eventual replacement for the Los Angeles class nuclear-powered attack submarines. While specific details of the hull design are closely guarded for national security, the new submarine is expected to bolster – and could eventually succeed – the USS Jimmy Carter, a Seawolf-class submarine commissioned in 2005 and presently the only special-mission sub of its kind deployed by the Navy.
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