U.S. Navy Deploys 19,000-Ton Ohio-Class Submarine In Pacific Northwest In Major Fleet Reorganization

In a major fleet reshuffle, the U.S. Navy has redeployed its new Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, the USS Wyoming, to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, Washington. The submarine exchanged homeports with the USS Pennsylvania, which has been moved to Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay in Georgia.

USS Wyoming was commissioned in 1996 and entered service in 1989, making it 7 years younger than USS Pennsylvania. Both submarines are powered by nuclear energy and carry Trident II D5 ballistic missiles.

According to the Navy, moving the relatively newer sub to Bangor would give the Pacific fleet a more dependable hull with all onboard systems working to their optimum.

The swap was announced at the beginning of the week as the Navy seeks to upgrade other Ohio-class submarines.

However, this reorganisation does not mean more submarines would be added to the Pacific fleet. It just changes which Ohio-class submarine is present in the region, which is decided based on the submarines’ service life and age.

The service life of Ohio-class submarines has been extended to 42 years, though operating them means increased costs for maintenance, frequent repairs, refueling, and upgrades, as their equipment has become old and onboard systems are harder to integrate with advanced technology.

The Navy has not moved the entire crew and their families across the two bases; rather, they took over the new submarines. This step seeks to preserve the command and training structure at the bases and does away with the disruption that could come from moving personnel between opposite shores.

Bangor is the main base on the West Coast to support Ohio-class submarine operations, including maintenance, repairs, logistics, training, and so on. It has to support these subs while preparing for the new Columbia-class submarines.

Along with modernising submarines, the Navy is also launching the Trident II D5 Life Extension 2 Project to upgrade the weapons of the submarines, which will also be installed on the new Columbia-class.