The USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) is a unique vessel in the U.S. Navy. It is named for the 39th President—himself a trainee submariner at the beginning of the nuclear age—and is more than a tribute. It is a demonstration of how naval technology evolves to meet new missions and new challenges beneath the surface.
Seawolf-class, Jimmy Carter’s class, was built during the latter parts of the Cold War. They were meant to be more efficient, quicker, stealthier, and better-armed than any ship in the sea. They were meant to command the undersea battlespace, but due to the end of the Cold War and escalating costs, only three were ever completed.
Jimmy Carter, the third and final, was radically altered during construction, which differentiated her. Her hull was lengthened by approximately 100 feet to accommodate the Multi-Mission Platform (MMP), or the Ocean Interface. This alteration made her a multi-mission platform that was able to do things no other American sub could.
The engineering involved with this extension is still awe-inspiring today. MMP built a pressurized passageway—sardonically referred to as the “wasp waist” or “aquarium”—for personnel and equipment to pass through, with the surrounding seawater creating what is tantamount to an underwater hangar.
Off of this unique bay, unmanned underwater vehicles, special operations boats, and other mission gear can be launched or recovered without touching the torpedo tubes. To ready her for operations, her ballast systems, mission spaces, and control areas were redesigned from bow to stern. The cost was the most expensive attack submarine ever constructed, and it ran over $3.5 billion.
Jimmy Carter’s abilities are unmatched. She can carry Navy SEALs and their gear, assist high-end remotely operated vehicles, and perform some of the fleet’s most delicate espionage missions.
One of her purported fields of expertise is underwater communications cable communication—tapping, repair, or intercepting messages. With the capacity to accommodate up to 50 special operations personnel, she blends a characteristic balance of stealth, speed, and agility without sacrificing the firepower of her Seawolf-class sisters.
Most of her work is secret, but now and then there is some indication of her success. The crew was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for meritorious service, and the submarine has been seen returning from patrol with the Jolly Roger flag flying—a naval tradition that is a dead giveaway as to a successful mission accomplishment. Homeported in the Pacific, she serves in areas where seabed infrastructure, cables, and buried networks grow in importance.
This is speaking of a new level of sea rivalry: the struggle for control of the ocean floor. Pipelines, cables, and sensors underpin contemporary life and security but remain vulnerable to disruption. Jimmy Carter is providing the U.S. Navy with not only the power to defend such resources but, in the event necessary, to seize those of an adversary. In this covert era, such a capability can be the difference between resilience and vulnerability.
Prospects, the Navy is developing a replacement. A derivative of a Virginia-class submarine, specifically designed for seabed and sub-sea warfare, will broaden Jimmy Carter’s mission envelope. Future ships will transport next-generation unmanned platforms, mini-subs, and customized payloads to execute underwater missions.
Until that time, the USS Jimmy Carter stands alone. She is an innovation, a flexibility, and an edge-of-the-envelope strategy all at once. Attack submarine, sure, but also the embodiment of the Navy’s capability to fight—and succeed—in regions the world seldom even glimpses. Her legacy will inform the design and deployment of future generations of submarines, keeping the U.S. ahead in the silent combat of the deep.