Seawolf class submarine

Table of contents

1 Seawolf (SSN-575) Class
2 Seawolf (SSN-21) Class

2.1 General Characteristics
2.2 Ships

Seawolf (SSN-575) Class

The second nuclear-powered submarine, Seawolf (SSN-575), which served from the early 1950s through 1987, was unique, and so can be considered the lead, and only, boat of the "Seawolf (SSN-575) class." Since she had no sister ships, however, there is no distinction between information about that boat and that "class," and references to Seawolf-class submarines may be safely assumed to refer to the three boats listed below.

Seawolf (SSN-21) Class

The Seawolf-class attack submarines (SSN) are quieter than the previous Los Angeles class, faster, have more torpedo tubes, and carry more weapons. They use the more advanced AN/BSY-2 combat system, which includes a new larger spherical sonar array, a wide aperture array (WAA), and a new towed-array sonar. Originally intended as a fleet of 29 submarines to be built over a ten-year period, the end of the Cold War and budget constraints dropped that number to three and led to the design of the Virginia class submarine.

General Characteristics

Builders: Electric Boat
Displacement: 8060 tons dived, 7700 tons surfaced
Length: 350 feet
Beam: 40 feet
Draft: 35 feet
Speed: 35 knots dived, 20 knots "silent"
Propulsion: S6W reactor manufactured by General Electric
Depth: 610 meters
Complement: 134, including 14 officers
Armament: eight 30-inch torpedo tubes, 50 torpedoes and missiles, or 100 mines