Back Seawolf-klas duikboot Afrikaans সিউল্ফ-শ্রেণির ডুবোজাহাজ Bengali/Bangla Třída Seawolf Czech Seawolf-klassen Danish Seawolf-Klasse German Clase Seawolf Spanish زیردریایی کلاس سی‌ولف Persian Seawolf-luokka Finnish Classe Seawolf French צוללות התקיפה מסדרת זאב הים HE

Seawolf-class submarine

Seawolf class
The USS Seawolf (SSN-21) underway
Top: USS Seawolf (SSN-21) underway
Middle: Seawolf subgroup (boats 1 and 2) profile
Bottom: USS Jimmy Carter (boat 3) profile
Class overview
BuildersGeneral Dynamics Electric Boat
Operators United States Navy
Preceded byLos Angeles class
Succeeded byVirginia class
Cost$3 billion per unit (equivalent to $6 billion in 2023)[1]
Built1989–2005
In commission1997–present
Planned29
Completed3
Cancelled26
Active3
General characteristics
TypeNuclear attack submarine
Displacement
Length
Beam40 ft (12 m)
Propulsion
  • 1 S6W PWR 220 MW (300,000 hp), HEU 93.5%[3][4]
  • 1 secondary propulsion submerged motor
  • 2 steam turbines 57,000 shp (43 MW) [4][5]
  • 1 shaft
  • 1 pump-jet propeller
Speed
  • 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) (silent)[6]
  • 35 knots (40 mph; 65 km/h) (maximum)[6]
RangeUnlimited
EnduranceOnly limited by food supplies
Test depth1,600 ft (490 m)[7]
Complement140
Crew14 officers; 126 enlisted
Armament8 × 26.5-inch torpedo tubes, sleeved for 21-inch weapons[8] (up to 50 Tomahawk land attack missile/Harpoon anti-ship missile/Mk 48 guided torpedo carried in torpedo room)[9]

The Seawolf class is a class of nuclear-powered, fast attack submarines (SSN) in service with the United States Navy. The class was the intended successor to the Los Angeles class, and design work began in 1983.[10] A fleet of 29 submarines was to be built over a ten-year period, but that was reduced to 12 submarines. The end of the Cold War and budget constraints led to the cancellation of any further additions to the fleet in 1995, leaving the Seawolf class limited to just three boats. This, in turn, led to the design of the smaller Virginia class. The Seawolf class cost about $3 billion per unit ($3.5 billion for USS Jimmy Carter), making it the most expensive United States Navy fast attack submarine and second most expensive submarine ever, after the French Triomphant-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.

  1. ^ Trevithick, Joseph (22 October 2018). "Navy Wants New 'Seawolf-Like' Attack Submarines To Challenge Russian And Chinese Threats". Drive Media Inc. Retrieved 9 September 2019.
  2. ^ "The US Navy – Fact File". US Navy. Archived from the original on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2008.
  3. ^ Alan Kuperman; Frank von Hippel (10 April 2020). "US study of reactor and fuel types to enable naval reactors to shift from HEU fuel". IPFM Blog.
  4. ^ a b "Validation of the Use of Low Enriched Uranium as a Replacement for Highly Enriched Uranium in US Submarine Reactors" (PDF). dspace.mit.edu. June 2015. p. 32. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  5. ^ "S6W Advanced Fleet Reactor". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  6. ^ a b "SSN Seawolf Class". naval-technology.com.
  7. ^ Federation of American Scientists (8 December 1998). "Run Silent, Run Deep". Military Analysis Network. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
  8. ^ Schank, John F.; Cesse, Cameron; Ip, Frank W.; Lacroix, Robert; Murphy, Mark V.; Arena, Kristy N.; Kamarck; Lee, Gordon T. (2011). "Learning from Experience: Volume II: Lessons from the U.S. Navy's Ohio, Seawolf, and Virginia Submarine Programs". rand.org.
  9. ^ "Attack Submarines - SSN". United States Navy Fact Files. United States Navy. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  10. ^ "Submarine Centennial Chronology". Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.

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