This week the U.S. Navy’s USS Missouri (SSN 780), a Virginia-class fast-attack submarine, departed the Pearl Harbor naval Shipyard for sea trials after completing a scheduled extended dry-docking selected restricted availability (EDSRA). The U.S. Pacific Fleet announced that during the maintenance period the shipyard and crew performed tank cleaning and lining, hull preservation, propulsion and ship system repairs, and made improvements to mechanical systems and electrical.

Following the completion of the sea trials the boat’s crew will work together to maintain readiness prior to completing their certification for overseas deployment to support theater and national tasking.

The Virginia-class fast-attack submarines are multi-mission platforms that enable five of the six maritime strategy core-capabilities for the United States Navy including sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security and deterrence. The submarines were designed for anti-submarine and anti-ship warfare, as well as for strike warfare, special operations, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and mine warfare.

The attack submarines are designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships; while projecting power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Special Operations Forces. The class features a large lock-in/lock-out chamber for divers. The traditional periscopes have also been supplanted by two photonics masts that host visible and infrared digital cameras atop telescoping arms.

Current Navy plans are to acquire additional Virginia-class submarines through at least 2043, while those already commissioned will remain in service until at least the 2060s. However, until the recent Navy shipbuilding budget, which was reduced by $4 billion, the Navy could reduce the number of submarines it would build in the coming years.

The USS Missouri is the seventh Virginia-class attack submarine and the fifth vessel in the U.S. Navy to honor the “Show Me State.” It is 377 feet long with a beam of 34 feet, and has a crew of 132 with 15 officers and 117 enlisted sailors. Built in 2010, the Missouri was originally based out of Groton, Connecticut before being reposted to Pearl Harbor.

When the boat arrived at its new homeport of Pearl Harbor in January 2018 it sailed past the famed but retired USS Missouri (BB-63), the legendary Iowa-class battleship of the same name, for the first time. The Missouri (BB-63) saw action in World War II, the Korean War and the Persian Gulf War. The “Might Mo” was also the site where Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and many other U.S. and Allied officers accepted the unconditional surrender of the Japanese at the end of World War II.

The USS Missouri (BB-63) had a “starring role” in the film Under Siege. It is fitting that in that film the plot involved stealing the RGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles, which is also the primary land attack weapon for USS Missouri (SSN 780).

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

Image: Reuters