USS Seawolf (SSN-21)

This article is about a U.S. Navy submarine. For other uses, see Seawolf (disambiguation).
For other ships with the same name, see USS Seawolf.
USS Seawolf (SSN-21)
USS Seawolf conducting sea trials in 1996.
History
United States
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-Bangor
Motto Cave Lupum (English: "Beware the Wolf")
Status in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type Seawolf-class submarine
Length 353 ft (108 m)
Beam 40 ft (12 m)
Draft 36 ft (11 m)
Propulsion
  • 1 S6W PWR 220 MW (300,000 hp), HEU 93.5%
  • 1 secondary propulsion submerged motor
  • 2 steam turbines 57,000 shp (43 MW)
  • 1 shaft
  • 1 pump-jet propeller
Speed 25+ knots submerged, 18+ knots surfaced
Test depth Greater than 800 ft (240 m)
Complement 15 officers and 101 enlisted
Armament 8 × 26.5-inch torpedo tubes, sleeved for 21-inch weapons (up to 50 Tomahawk land attack missile/Harpoon anti-ship missile/Mk 48 guided torpedo carried in torpedo room)

USS Seawolf (SSN-21), is a nuclear-powered fast attack submarine and the lead ship of her class. She is the fourth submarine of the United States Navy named for the seawolf, a solitary fish with strong, prominent teeth that give it a savage look.

Construction

The contract to build Seawolf was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics 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. The 7-year 9-month time period from keel laying to commissioning is the longest for a submarine in the U.S. Navy.

Adding support personnel as well as ship's crew, there are 140 personnel assigned or attached to Seawolf.

History

A surfaced Seawolf with her crew surveying her surroundings, 1996

Seawolf is featured in a 1998 episode of the documentary Super Structures of the World: Seawolf. The program followed her construction and sea trials.

On 22 July 2007, Seawolf transferred from her previous homeport of Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, to Naval Base Kitsap, Washington.

Seawolf leads USS John C. Stennis and the Japanese destroyer JS Ōnami during an exercise in 2009

In 2015, Seawolf was deployed to the Arctic region for six months.

In July 2020 Seawolf deployed into the Arctic area of responsibility. She conducted special operations and pulled into multiple European ports. Port calls included HMNB Clyde in Faslane Scotland, and Gibraltar, and briefly in Tromsø, Norway. Seawolf's deployment was the first US Navy deployment during the coronavirus pandemic.

Awards

1997
  • Secretary of the Navy Letter of Commendation (1995–1997)
2001
2002
2004
  • Battle Efficiency "E" Ribbon
2007
2009
2014
  • Battle Efficiency "E" Ribbon
  • Weapons "W"
  • Navigation Red and Green "N"
  • Supply Blue "E"
  • Personnel "P"
2015
  • Battle Efficiency "E" Ribbon
  • Weapons "W"
  • Navigation Red and Green "N"
  • Supply Blue "E"
  • Engineering Red "E"
2020