NAVY WIRE SERVICE (NWS) - March 9, 2000 –



NWS09mar-1. Homeport assignment for PCU Jimmy Carter (SSN
23) announced
By the Navy Office of Information
    WASHINGTON (NWS) -- Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig
announced March 7 that the submarine pre-commissioning unit
(PCU) Jimmy Carter (SSN 23) will be assigned the homeport of
Naval Submarine Base Bangor, Wash.
    A Navy team recently completed a structured, impartial,
objective and comprehensive review evaluating potential
homeports. Only after a detailed evaluation of all these
factors did the Secretary reach his decision to homeport the
ship in Bangor. The proposed assignment is subject to the
completion of all required construction and testing. The
submarine is scheduled to be delivered in 2004 and should
arrive at Bangor in 2005.
    PCU Jimmy Carter, the third Seawolf-class submarine,
currently being built by the Electric Boat Division of
General Dynamics, is undergoing a modification that will
allow additional volume and services to accommodate advanced
technology for naval special warfare, tactical surveillance,
and mine warfare operations.
    The details of this modification and the advanced
technologies, while classified, will support the Defense
Science Board recommendations for improved payload
capabilities and flexible interface with the undersea
environment. This will be accomplished without sacrificing
current Seawolf-class multi-mission war fighting
capabilities.
    The modification will require alterations to the basic
Seawolf design in the areas of ballast control, mission-
management spaces, and various services. A unique feature of
this modification is the creation of a flexible ocean
interface, referred to as the "wasp waist," that will enable
the Navy to deploy and recover various payloads without
having to rely on the use of the torpedo tubes. The
modification will make the submarine longer than the first
two Seawolf-class submarines.
    The modifications to Jimmy Carter reflect the inherent
flexibility of the submarine force to respond to emerging
threats with new technologies and tactics. With Jimmy
Carter, this generations' submarine force will stride
forward and meet emerging threats at sea, on land or of any
nature. The Navy-Industry team is poised to build this
remarkable and fully integrated submarine.
    For more information about attack submarines (SSNs):
http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/ships, and
click on "ships-ssn.html"
                            -USN-
                            -USN-