Text Fwd: Advanced U.S. Nuclear Fast Attack Submarine Docks In Guam 첨단 초고속 핵 잠수함, 괌에 정박

* Image & source captions: U.S. navy

'Description: The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) enters Apra Harbor for a scheduled port visit.

100924-N-5539C-013 GUAM (Sept. 24, 2010) The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) enters Apra Harbor for a scheduled port visit. This is the first deployment of a Virginia-class to the western Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Corwin Colbert/Released)'
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* Text sent from Rock Rozoff on Sept. 27, 2010

Navy NewsStand
September 24, 2010
USS Hawaii Visits Guam
From Joint Region Marianas Public Affairs


-The state-of-the-art submarine is capable of supporting a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike, naval special warfare involving special operations forces, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and mine warfare.


APRA HARBOR, Guam: The Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) arrived Sept. 24 in Apra Harbor, Guam for a port visit during the ship's first deployment to the Western Pacific.

The ship departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for a scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific region Aug. 25.

With a crew of 136, this is the ship's first deployment from Pearl Harbor.
Hawaii will be conducting a multitude of missions while assigned to 7th Fleet during the next several months.

"Guam, as a port, plays a vital role in the U.S. military's efforts to fulfill our commitments to our allies and partners and to protect our nation's security," said Capt. John Russ, commodore for Submarine Squadron 15....

Measuring 377 feet long and weighing 7,800 tons when submerged, Hawaii is one of the Navy's newest and most technologically sophisticated submarines.

The state-of-the-art submarine is capable of supporting a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike, naval special warfare involving special operations forces, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and mine warfare.
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* Image source & caption: Stars & Stripes

'The USS Hawaii moors at Pier 13 on Tuesday at Yokosuka Naval Base, the first port stop of the fast-attack sub's Western Pacific deployment. The visit by the Hawaii is the first by a Virginia class submarine to the 7th Fleet's Western Pacific-based area of operations. Navy officials say the boat's abilities in coastal waters give planners more flexibility in gathering intelligence and performing other missions. Erik Slavin/Stars and Stripes'
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Stars and Stripes
September 7, 2010
Submarine USS Hawaii first of its class to enter Western Pacific
By Erik Slavin

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan: The USS Hawaii's arrival at Yokosuka on Friday marks the first port visit by a Virginia-class submarine in the Western Pacific.

The USS Hawaii’s arrival on Friday at Yokosuka for a port visit signaled the first time a Virginia-class submarine has entered the Western Pacific, Navy officials said Tuesday.

The relatively new fast-attack submarine’s arrival in Asian waters represents yet another piece of the Navy’s shift toward watercraft and weaponry designed to operate in nearshore waters.
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Submarine commanders tend to avoid talking about specific countries and operations, but they’re usually happy to talk about their boats. Mack was no exception aboard the Hawaii on Tuesday.

The Hawaii can not only drive itself, it can auto-hover and auto-stabilize, keeping the boat as quiet as possible while avoiding detection at varied depths, Mack said.

It also uses a sonar “chin array” to detect mines and other threats beneath the boat, an upgrade over the older Los Angeles-class subs that the Hawaii and boats like it are replacing.
“The Los Angeles-class is extremely capable, but it was designed in an era more focused on open ocean,” said Cmdr. Jeff Davis, spokesman for the 7th Fleet, which oversees the Western Pacific. The Hawaii and its class “add a lot of value, particularly in ... the littoral environments in which we operate.”

The new capabilities would aid the Hawaii if it ever operated in the often shallow waters near the Korean Northern Limit Line, where international investigators believe the South Korean ship Cheonan was destroyed by a North Korean torpedo in March.

The Hawaii also has an airlock chamber which it can use to launch Navy SEAL teams into nearshore waters.

Davis said the Hawaii was not scheduled to participate in a U.S.-South Korean anti-submarine exercise that was postponed this week due to a tropical storm off the peninsula.

He said there is no special reason why a Virginia-class sub hadn’t shown up in the Western Pacific sooner. However, with 12 Virginia-class subs expected to be ready by 2015, the boats will likely play an increasingly larger role in 7th Fleet plans.

“We are the first, but there are more to follow,” Mack said.
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