Run Silent, Run Deep: PM Meets the Deadly Seawolf Submarine
We're rigged for silent running in the Seawolf, America's newest and fastest attack submarine.
By Jim Wilson
Dec 1, 2020
uss seawolf
In the January 1998 issue, Popular Mechanics boarded the U.S. Navy's newest (and deadliest) attack submarine, the USS Seawolf. After the Cold War, the U.S. pivoted away from these heavily armed behemoths of the deep, but the Navy's upcoming submarine, currently named the SSN(X), could be as armed to the teeth as its Seawolf forebear, a signal that times are changing on the high seas.
Capt. Dave McCall admits to one vice. "I like to drive fast," he says, "I like to drive very fast."
The Navy has indulged McCall's need for speed by giving him command of its fastest attack submarine ever, the USS Seawolf.
On the record, Seawolf's top speed exceeds 25 knots. Some say the boat is so fast McCall could earn speeding tickets at sea. But he'd have to be found first. Besides being fast, Seawolf-class submarines, of which Seawolf SSN-21 is the first of three, are the stealthiest vessels in the Navy's fleet. "At 25 knots, our boat is quieter than the last Los Angeles-class submarines sitting at the pier," says Lt. Cmdr. Bob Aronson, the boat's executive officer.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a34827041/seawolf-submarine-history/
