USS Houston Arrives in Guam

The third submarine to be stationed in Guam, USS Houston (SSN 713) arrived in her new homeport today. The other two submarines, USS San Francisco and USS City of Corpus Christi, have been operating out of Guam since late 2002. These are all refuelled Los Angeles class boats, without the additional 12 Vertical Launch Tomahawk tubes of the improved Los Angeles class boats. Stationing the older boats in Guam makes sense; to be honest, if there's going to be a war involving submarines that we don't start, it'll probably involve Taiwan or Korea. Having these boats homeported closer to the action cuts several days off the travel time to either of these potential flashpoints.