One of the most advanced nuclear-powered submarines in the United States Navy arrived in Japan on Friday, as China continues the rapid expansion of its fleet of warships in a bid to challenge American naval dominance.
USS Seawolf, an attack submarine and the lead ship of its class, arrived at Yokosuka, a city in Japan’s Kanagawa Prefecture, according to a ship spotter who posted photos of the vessel on X, formerly Twitter. The prefectural government has confirmed the visit by the American submarine.
The U.S. Navy describes the Seawolf and its two sister ships as “exceptionally quiet, fast, well-armed, and equipped with advanced sensors.” Each is equipped with eight torpedo tubes and can carry up to 50 weapons in their torpedo rooms, including land-attack cruise missiles and torpedoes.
According to the U.S. Naval Institute News, the Seawolf-class was initially developed for deep-water operations to counter Soviet submarines. The class was later upgraded and modified to conduct sensitive missions following the end of the Cold War.
The Seawolf-class is part of the larger American attack submarine fleet of 53 boats, all powered by nuclear reactors. They are designed to seek out and destroy enemy vessels, project power and conduct spying missions, among other tasks.
The Chinese military, which has the world’s largest navy by number of hulls, only operates a small number of nuclear-powered attack submarines. Unlike its American counterpart, the Chinese navy also has 48 diesel powered/air-independent powered attack submarines in service.
China has two Type 093 and four Type 093A nuclear-powered attack submarines. Beijing launched two new nuclear-powered attack submarines, the Type 093B, between May 2022 and January 2023, and could have three boats of this class by 2025.
Nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Seawolf transits the Pacific Ocean on June 22, 2021. The Seawolf arrived in Japan on Friday.
Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Olympia O. McCoy/U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy has routinely deployed attack submarines in the Western Pacific Ocean to project power and support allies. USS Vermont, a Virginia-class attack boat armed with 25 torpedoes and 12 cruise missiles, visited Busan in South Korea on September 23.
Among the three Seawolf-class submarines, the Seawolf is the only one currently operational. The second boat in the class, USS Connecticut, hit an underwater seamount in the South China Sea on October 2, 2021, leaving 11 crew members injured.
The damaged submarine is now being repaired at an estimated cost of $80 million and is scheduled to return to service in early 2026, the specialist outlet Naval News reported.
USS Jimmy Carter, the remaining Seawolf-class submarine, has advanced technology for special warfare, tactical surveillance, and mine warfare. It has a displacement of 12,158 tons and is 453 feet long, which is larger than its two sister ships (9,138 tons and 353 feet long).
According to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, the Jimmy Carter docked in a dry dock there on August 21 for scheduled maintenance. The site is located in Bremerton, Washington, where the Connecticut is undergoing repair.
Regarding the Seawolf‘s deployment, Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Navy for comment by email.
