The USS Jimmy Carter is the last in the Seawolf-class attack submarines, long on the drawing board as the U.S. Navy strives for a fleet underwater that is at the leading edge. Conceived toward the end of the Cold War, Seawolf-class submarines were designed to be the ultimate underwater hunter-killers. However, when the Cold War finally came to an end, warfare began to evolve towards the littorals, and, apart from their staggering costs, only three Seawolf-class boats were produced before the Navy shifted attention to the smaller and costlier Virginia class.
The USS Jimmy Carter is not just any Seawolf-class submarine; it is the Navy’s premier “special mission” submarine, specifically outfitted for covert intelligence operations. It includes a 100-foot-long, 2,500-ton module called the Multi-Mission Platform, or MMP, allowing undersea drones, SEALs, and other specialized gear to ride inside. This makes the submarine special in carrying out many clandestine missions involving intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR).
The MMP can support everything from the deployment of UUVs and ROVs to, at a future date, manned submersibles. The vehicles can be used for underwater engineering tasks, positioning, recovering, or accessing seabed objects, which could include tapping submarine communication cables, SCC, such as undersea fiber optic cables used by the internet.
The capabilities of the USS Jimmy Carter extend beyond ISR. The submarine is capable of supporting SEALs, and by inference, other USSOCOM operators; hence, it can house SDVs within the confinements of the submarine. This makes Jimmy Carter an asset to be reckoned with in the Navy’s arsenal.
The secrecy surrounding the USS Jimmy Carter is palpable. On Jan. 20, 2013, the submarine left its home port in Bangor, Wash., and turned up less than two months later in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for repairs. Mission details, referred to only as Mission 7, remain classified. But its importance is reflected in a Presidential Unit Citation awarded to the crew for their “extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy.”
The USS Jimmy Carter’s inclusion of advanced capabilities and stealth makes it one of the most secretive weapons in America’s arsenal. Under the aegis of Submarine Development Squadron Five, the submarine tests new undersea listening gear and remote-controlled submersibles. Its brief also includes developing new tactics for Arctic warfare—a region where, with the Polar ice cap providing cover, submarines can easily hide from their opponents.
It is also hinted that Jimmy Carter’s clandestine operations are marked by the flying of the Jolly Roger flag every time it returns from missions. Such a tradition started during World War II and is considered a sign of a successful mission. The flag is usually decorated with various symbols indicating the completion of clandestine tasks, the meanings of which are still ambiguous.
The legacy of the USS Jimmy Carter runs in parallel with the USS Parche, another Cold War–era attack submarine refitted for underwater espionage. Notorious for its ability to tap Soviet communications cables, presumably, those activities have continued into the modern age with Jimmy Carter.
The USS Jimmy Carter remains there, a silent sentinel of the deep, its missions cloaked in secrecy, but its contributions toward national security are anything but doubtful. As technology evolves, so does the role of this extraordinary submarine, placing it always at the forefront of underwater espionage and special operations.