PCU North Carolina finally becomes USS NORTH CAROLINA in her commissioning ceremony. Christened by Mrs. Linda Bowman (of the Naval Reactors Bowman’s), she’s now off to make her homeport in sunny Groton, CT.
Tough break guys, I was hoping for Pearl for you, but someone’s gotta replace the Seawolf class boys who left I guess.
2 responses so far ↓
Vmaximus // May 15, 2008 at 11:17 pm |
Hi,
I clicked on your link at Lex’s.
What happened to the Seawolf class? I read something in the Akron paper about them naming the first one the Akron. I have never heard a peep about it after that.
Is the Virginia better? or just cheaper?
I know nothing about the Navy, but Big ships are the ultimate cool.
V
fastnav // May 16, 2008 at 4:59 am |
V –
the SEAWOLF class still exists. It consists of the USS SEAWOLF (SSN 21) USS CONNECTICUT (SSN 22) and the USS JIMMY CARTER (SSN 23).
That’s all they built since by the time the SEAWOLF was delivered, the Soviet Union had collapsed and thus the enemy the class was built to hunt no longer existed. The Navy then shifted to development of the Virginia Class boats.
The Virginia class boats better or cheaper? I guess it depends on who you ask. Guys on SEAWOLF would probably say that Virginia isn’t better. Having been on both ships for tours only, I can’t say which one is better for operations. The Virginia class is designed for the missions of today though. Shallow water operations. It’s got all the latest and greatest toys on it, and it was just designed very well.
My personal opinion is that the Virginia class is better, but certainly not cheaper.
Hope this helps!
~fastnav