USS North Carolina to be home ported at Pearl Harbor
By MC2 Ronald Gutridge
COMSUBPAC Public Affairs

Release Date: 1/6/2010

(PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii) – Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny announced today that USS North Carolina (SSN 777) will be the third Virginia-class submarine home ported at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, arriving this summer.

North Carolina will join fellow Virginia-class submarines USS Hawaii (SSN 776) and USS Texas (SSN 775) at Submarine Squadron One.  North Carolina’s keel was laid on May 22, 2004 and the submarine’s official commissioning ceremony was held on May 3, 2008. 

Measuring 377 feet long, weighing 7,800 tons when submerged and with a complement of more than 130 crewmembers, it is the fifth ship to be named in honor of the Tar Heel State.  North Carolina’s crew is excited to represent its namesake state both at home and abroad.
 
The state-of-the-art submarine is capable of supporting a multitude of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike, naval special warfare involving special operations forces, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, irregular warfare, and mine warfare. 

Recognizing the importance of the Asia-Pacific region and the increased threat posed by the proliferation of submarines in the western Pacific, the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review mandated that 60 percent of the U.S. Navy’s submarines be home ported in the Pacific by the end of 2010.