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Three Virginia-class subs to be based at Pearl Harbor
By JAYMES SONG | Associated Press Writer
6:45 AM EDT, August 10, 2007
HONOLULU - Two of the newest attack submarines will join the USS Hawaii in being home-ported at Pearl Harbor as the Navy shifts its focus to the Pacific, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said Thursday.
Inouye, D-Hawaii, said the relocation of the USS North Carolina and the USS Texas from the East Coast was a policy decision made several months ago in recognition of the "strategic nature of the Pacific as compared to the Atlantic."
"I think it's obvious the next area of concern is the Pacific region," he said.
The vessels are now part of sub squadrons in Groton, Conn. and represent three of the first four Virginia-class subs.
The Navy plans to replace its aging Los Angeles-class submarines with the new ships.
The USS Hawaii was commissioned in May and the USS Texas was commissioned last year. They will arrive in the islands sometime in 2009, followed by USS North Carolina, which is currently undergoing sea trials.
The USS Virginia, commissioned in 2004 as the first in a group of 10 Virginia-class subs being built jointly by Electric Boat and the Northrop Grumman shipyard, will remain on the East Coast, Inouye said.
Navy officials couldn't confirm the basing but said they would welcome the new-generation submarines.
Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the Navy Secretary has not made an announcement on where the subs are going to be berthed, but he feels they should be in Hawaii.
"We're excited about the shift of submarines to the Pacific because we feel it's a much broader body of water, time distance factors, all things considered: this is where the Pacific Fleet commander wants them," he said Thursday.
The Navy is shifting a total of six submarines from Connecticut and Virginia to the Pacific by 2010.
The shift will put 60 percent of the Navy's submarine fleet in the Pacific and 40 percent in the Atlantic. Currently, the submarines are evenly divided between the two oceans.
The boost is in line with a gradual increase in U.S. ships and planes in the Pacific region, home to some of the more troublesome potential conflict zones for the United States _ the Korean peninsula and Taiwan.
Cmdr. Mike Brown, spokesman for Pacific Fleet Submarine Forces, said he also has not received official word of the relocation but added that the senator would have the information before his office would.
With the Pentagon shifting its attention to the Pacific and as the aging Los Angeles-class submarines are being replaced, it would be "logical" that the first new subs would be based at Pearl Harbor, Brown said.
Pearl Harbor is currently home to 16 Los Angeles-class attack submarines, after last year's decommissioning of the USS Honolulu.
Navy officials have said that Pearl Harbor would eventually have 18 submarines by 2010.
Inouye said it will be up to policy makers to decide how many of the Virginia-class subs will be based at Pearl Harbor.
"Out of the first four, we're going to have three, so that's not bad," he said.
The new breed of submarines can attack targets onshore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and conduct long-term surveillance. The subs can travel at speeds greater than 25 knots, or 28.8 miles per hour. It can reach depths greater than 800 feet and will carry 134 officers and crew members.
The nuclear attack submarines are one of the Navy's best tools to track the undersea vessels of other nations. This makes them especially vital as China and others in the region acquire sophisticated diesel submarines that are quieter and harder to detect than the diesel subs of the past.
"It's state of the art," Inouye said. "No one can come close to what we have."
By JAYMES SONG | Associated Press Writer
6:45 AM EDT, August 10, 2007
HONOLULU - Two of the newest attack submarines will join the USS Hawaii in being home-ported at Pearl Harbor as the Navy shifts its focus to the Pacific, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye said Thursday.
Inouye, D-Hawaii, said the relocation of the USS North Carolina and the USS Texas from the East Coast was a policy decision made several months ago in recognition of the "strategic nature of the Pacific as compared to the Atlantic."
"I think it's obvious the next area of concern is the Pacific region," he said.
The vessels are now part of sub squadrons in Groton, Conn. and represent three of the first four Virginia-class subs.
The Navy plans to replace its aging Los Angeles-class submarines with the new ships.
The USS Hawaii was commissioned in May and the USS Texas was commissioned last year. They will arrive in the islands sometime in 2009, followed by USS North Carolina, which is currently undergoing sea trials.
The USS Virginia, commissioned in 2004 as the first in a group of 10 Virginia-class subs being built jointly by Electric Boat and the Northrop Grumman shipyard, will remain on the East Coast, Inouye said.
Navy officials couldn't confirm the basing but said they would welcome the new-generation submarines.
Adm. Robert Willard, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the Navy Secretary has not made an announcement on where the subs are going to be berthed, but he feels they should be in Hawaii.
"We're excited about the shift of submarines to the Pacific because we feel it's a much broader body of water, time distance factors, all things considered: this is where the Pacific Fleet commander wants them," he said Thursday.
The Navy is shifting a total of six submarines from Connecticut and Virginia to the Pacific by 2010.
The shift will put 60 percent of the Navy's submarine fleet in the Pacific and 40 percent in the Atlantic. Currently, the submarines are evenly divided between the two oceans.
The boost is in line with a gradual increase in U.S. ships and planes in the Pacific region, home to some of the more troublesome potential conflict zones for the United States _ the Korean peninsula and Taiwan.
Cmdr. Mike Brown, spokesman for Pacific Fleet Submarine Forces, said he also has not received official word of the relocation but added that the senator would have the information before his office would.
With the Pentagon shifting its attention to the Pacific and as the aging Los Angeles-class submarines are being replaced, it would be "logical" that the first new subs would be based at Pearl Harbor, Brown said.
Pearl Harbor is currently home to 16 Los Angeles-class attack submarines, after last year's decommissioning of the USS Honolulu.
Navy officials have said that Pearl Harbor would eventually have 18 submarines by 2010.
Inouye said it will be up to policy makers to decide how many of the Virginia-class subs will be based at Pearl Harbor.
"Out of the first four, we're going to have three, so that's not bad," he said.
The new breed of submarines can attack targets onshore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and conduct long-term surveillance. The subs can travel at speeds greater than 25 knots, or 28.8 miles per hour. It can reach depths greater than 800 feet and will carry 134 officers and crew members.
The nuclear attack submarines are one of the Navy's best tools to track the undersea vessels of other nations. This makes them especially vital as China and others in the region acquire sophisticated diesel submarines that are quieter and harder to detect than the diesel subs of the past.
"It's state of the art," Inouye said. "No one can come close to what we have."