THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, August 17, 1994 TAG: 9408170394
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
They haven't been built, but the Navy already is looking for parking space for its three new Seawolf submarines.
Norfolk could become a base for the 9,000-ton, 360-foot-long subs, depending upon the outcome of a series of environmental hearings. The first hearing will be held at 7 tonight at the Airport Hilton.
Three naval stations on the East Coast are being evaluated in the search for a Seawolf home port. All three are included in a supplemental draft environmental-impact statement the Navy must prepare under federal law.
Norfolk Naval Station is one of the three sites, along with the submarine bases at Kings Bay, Ga., and New London, Conn. The Navy previously has said it prefers the New London site.
Dredging would be necessary at any of the three sites to accommodate the submarine, which draws 36 feet of water. By contrast, Los Angeles class submarines now in use draw 32 feet of water in port.
The water surrounding the piers at Norfolk Naval Station is dredged to a maximum of about 45 feet, but some areas near the existing submarine piers are shallower than that, according to officials.
A presentation identifying the Seawolf requirements will be available at tonight's meeting.
``This is an initial hearing,'' said Lt. Cmdr. Greg Smith, a spokesman for the Atlantic Fleet Submarine Force. ``This way the Navy gets a chance to say that, if we put the Seawolf here, we will have to dredge 2 feet of water, or whatever.''
Norfolk currently has about 20 submarines based along its waterfront. Nearly all are attack submarines of the Los Angeles class.
The Seawolf, under construction in Connecticut, will cost $2.4 billion to build. The Navy initially planned to build 29 subs, but high costs and the end of the Cold War nearly canceled the program.
Congress agreed to keep the Seawolf alive, in part to preserve facilities and jobs so they'll be around to build future generations of submarines. But plans now call for only three of the subs - two of which have been fully funded.
President Clinton is expected to seek $1.4 billion in his proposed budget for next year to complete the third Seawolf.
Tenneco's Newport News Shipbuilding is handling the design of the first Seawolf. The Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp. in Groton, Conn., is building the sub. ILLUSTRATION: TO COMMENT
A public hearing on the environmental ramifications of basing
Seawolf submarines in Norfolk will be held at 7 p.m. at the Airport
Hilton, Military Highway at Northampton Boulevard in Norfolk.
Written comments may be sent by Sept. 30 to R.K. Ostermueller,
Northern Division, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, 10
Industrial Highway, Lester, Pa. 19113, Attention: Code 202.
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY SEAWOLF SUBMARINE
by CNB