Submarine North Carolina commissioned

[unhappycamper]

Crew members stand on the newly commissioned submarine North Carolina at the North Carolina State Port in Wilmington, N.C., on May


Submarine North Carolina commissioned
By Kevin Maurer - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday May 4, 2008 11:41:52 EDT

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Master Chief Barry Swofford joined the Navy in the 1980s, volunteered for the “silent service” and got down to work stalking Soviet submarines.

“That was the threat. That was the job,” Swofford said.

But two decades later, the Russian submarines Swofford spent a career chasing don’t pose much of a threat. Terrorism is the nation’s primary concern, and fighting it is the mission he’ll take to sea aboard his new assignment and the Navy’s latest sub: the North Carolina.

The Navy commissioned the North Carolina on Saturday, the fourth $2.4 billion Virginia-class boat to join the service’s fleet of more than 50 submarines. It will based at the Navy’s New London submarine base in Groton, Conn.

The North Carolina was designed to attack land and sea targets with cruise missiles and torpedoes, or sail into shallow waters to monitor enemy transmissions or drop off SEAL teams.


Rest of article at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_northcarolina_050408/



uhc comment: Of course, the $2,500,000,000 does not include weapons. I could not find a price for the UGM-109, but I did find that the BGM-109 cost $600,000 in 1998 dollars.

[sailor65]

1. Godspeed, Brothers n/t