Thanks to Danny McMillin for the photo! Busy day on Puget Sound. After the orcas passed, this submarine was in view, southbound. (They’re not as easy to ID as most other U.S. Navy vessels, so we don’t have the ID.)
The profile of the sail of a Seawolf Class sub, and the sail from the picture. Note the two white patches forward of the sail. All 3 Seawolf class subs are at Bangor: Seawolf, Connecticut, and Jimmy Carter.
As a former submariner (usn, ret) I can tell you that the hull numbers of arriving/departing submarines in/out of any port is for for OPSEC as well as PERSEC security reasons. One of the reasons we are referred to as “the silent service” is our ability to stay unidentifiable.
In the days of satellite photography, etc., I wouldn’t bet on any arriving/departing of any US Navy ship not being known. No different than what we do ourselves to other countries navies.
It is definitely a seawolf class boat. No telling which one though.
I’m a civilian, so I don’t have any personal knowledge, but I’d seen that the Jimmy Carter’s hull was lengthened by 100 feet to provide space for the sorts of missions it was designed for. Does this one look longer than other Seawolf class boats?
Definitely the Seawolf or CT. You are correct that the Carter has an additional section between the sail and the engine room. I helped build all of them
I understood all sub’s wre identical to make them impossible to identify individually.
That’s a nasty little machine. 35 knots, 6 tubes, pump jet makes it quiet as all hell… dives well beyond 800 meters, and it has all sorts of advanced sensors. Not to be messed with.
It’s definitely either USS Seawolf or USS Connecticut. USS Jimmy Carter’s hull extension is unmistakable. My guess, based on readily available online pics of the class, would be USS Connecticut. Either way, beautiful pic. It’s really a shame they had to truncate the class to 3 boats.
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