USS Seawolf Media Availability
USS Seawolf (SSN 21) is leaving her birthplace of Groton for the West Coast this morning, and for her last full day in Groton, the Navy had her crew do a media availability. While those things generally suck for the crew, they give those of us not in Groton a chance to see what the boat looks like -- or it would if the camera operator for the Norwich Bulletin had realized that they didn't have to continually keep their cameras zoomed in on the face of the crew member who was talking. (Go to this article in the Bulletin and check out the Quicktime videos on the bottom right of the page -- you can still see some fleeting glances of the ship, which if you've never been on a Seawolf, should be pretty cool.)
The article in the Bulletin did have some good pictures, though -- including these ones of the SCP and of an open torpedo tube:
In the photo of the torpedo tube, you can see the insert that allows the huge 26" tube to hold the standard 21" weapons. (The internal Signal Ejectors are the same way -- bigger than what other boats have, so they need an insert to fit the standard rounds.) Sailors on Seawolf-class boats normally have pretty much everything bigger than other submarine Sailors -- especially those on the Virginia-class subs.
And yes, I'm talking about exactly what you think I'm talking about. Anyone have a problem with that?
Update 2321 15 June: It looks like she got underway on schedule; here's a shot of her heading past downtown New London for the last time in a long while:
posted by Bubblehead at 6:22 AM
4 Comments:
She's going where the action is...
Go bless her...
6/16/2007 11:46 AM
These submarines are without a doubt the most powerful fast attack submarines in the world, but are they really worth the time and money it takes to maintain their material readiness.
6/16/2007 7:43 PM
Agh. As a former VIRGINIA sailor, I refuse to dignify your comment with a response of my own, sir. =P
I hope they get to go out there and do some cool stuff--not sit at the pier suffering near-constant cannibalization from the JC.
6/17/2007 9:20 AM
Perhaps submarines are expensive; maintaining a capable force to offset the threat of a maritime push from China, Iran, Russia, __fill in the blank___ may seem too costly but what is the cost of liberty? Ronald Reagan put it best IMO..."Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." Ronald Reagan
6/18/2007 6:13 AM
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