USS Hawaii (SSN 776)

USS HAWAII History:

USS HAWAII is a VIRGINIA-class nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine built for multi-mission operations in the post-Cold War environment. The contract for the third boat of the class was awarded to General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut on September 30, 1998, as part of the first block of VIRGINIA-class submarines intended to replace aging LOS ANGELES-class units. Her keel was laid at Groton on August 27, 2004. The submarine was christened HAWAII on June 17, 2006 by the governor of Hawaii, Linda Lingle, recognizing both the state's long naval association and the central role of the Hawaiian Islands in Pacific undersea operations. Electric Boat completed construction ahead of schedule and delivered the boat to the U.S. Navy on December 22, 2006. After final trials and preparations, USS HAWAII was commissioned at Groton on May 5, 2007, becoming the first commissioned warship to bear the name of the 50th state.

Following commissioning, HAWAII entered an intensive period of trials, crew training and system certification in the western Atlantic. Throughout the second half of 2007, she operated primarily from Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, conducting acoustic trials, weapons testing and tactical exercises along the U.S. East Coast. In October 2007, she supported special operations forces certification off Key West, Florida, working with SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2 and Naval Special Warfare Logistics Support units during lock-out and diver training. Photographic records from that period show HAWAII operating with divers and special boat teams around her sail and lock-out trunk, reflecting the class's design emphasis on supporting naval special warfare missions.

In January 2008, HAWAII undertook her first deployment. Details of the patrol are only partially public, but from February 20 to April 17, 2008 she participated in counter-drug operations that later earned the boat and crew a U.S. Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation, recognizing their role in disrupting narcotics trafficking during joint interagency operations.

During this early phase of her career, HAWAII demonstrated the VIRGINIA-class concept of flexible employment across peacetime and contingency missions, shifting quickly from developmental testing to operational tasking. After returning to Groton, she entered post-shakedown availability in May 2008, correcting construction-period discrepancies and incorporating early design improvements before long-term fleet service.

On December 4, 2008 the Navy announced that HAWAII would shift homeport from Groton to Pearl Harbor, aligning the new class more closely with the growing strategic emphasis on the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean.

Through late 2008 and early 2009 the submarine remained on the U.S. East Coast, completing additional training and deploying briefly to the Caribbean and western Atlantic while preparations were made for the move. On May 8, 2009 the Navy publicly noted the earlier Coast Guard commendation, highlighting HAWAII's contribution to counter-narcotics efforts at a time when interdiction operations in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific formed a visible element of U.S. maritime security policy.

In mid-2009, HAWAII began her change of homeport. She departed Groton in May 2009 and proceeded south to the Panama Canal. On July 10, 2009, she transited the Canal, moving from the Atlantic to the Pacific as part of a broader shift of advanced undersea capability toward the Indo-Pacific region. After crossing the Eastern Pacific, HAWAII arrived at Naval Station Pearl Harbor on July 23, 2009, becoming one of the earliest VIRGINIA-class submarines permanently based in Hawaii and joining Submarine Squadron One under Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. Through the remainder of 2009, she conducted local operations and training around the Hawaiian Islands, integrating with surface and air units and familiarizing the crew with regional operating areas ranging from shallow littoral waters to deep-ocean Pacific transit lanes.

From March 30 to May 5, 2010, HAWAII underwent a significant refit at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. This availability, with a reported cost of about $2.5 million, included structural and systems modifications that incorporated early lessons from the first years of VIRGINIA-class service, preparing the submarine for the higher tempo and longer distances of Pacific deployments. Once undocked, the boat resumed local operations as the United States was increasingly emphasizing its "rebalance" toward the Asia-Pacific.

On August 25, 2010 HAWAII departed Pearl Harbor for her first Western Pacific deployment and the first extended Western Pacific cruise by any VIRGINIA-class submarine. Assigned to the U.S. Seventh Fleet, she spent approximately six months forward deployed. During the deployment, she participated in Exercise Valiant Shield 2010, a large multi-domain U.S. exercise centered on Guam that brought together carrier strike groups, air assets and submarines to practice high-end warfare scenarios at a time of increasing focus on regional power competition and long-range precision strike. HAWAII also conducted operations with the ABRAHAM LINCOLN (CVN 72) Carrier Strike Group, exercising undersea support to carrier operations and integrated anti-submarine warfare. In port, the deployment showcased HAWAII as a visible symbol of U.S. undersea presence in the region. She visited Yokosuka, Japan, the principal U.S. naval base in the western Pacific, during September 2010, where imagery shows her moored at Fleet Activities Yokosuka. In the same month she was photographed in Apra Harbor, Guam, underscoring Guam's role as a forward logistics hub for submarines. Later, on November 10, 2010, HAWAII arrived in Busan, Republic of Korea, for a routine port visit - reportedly the first visit of a VIRGINIA-class submarine to South Korea - during a period when alliance reassurance and deterrence on the Korean Peninsula were central themes in regional security.

On December 28, 2010, while still deployed, HAWAII moored outboard the submarine tender USS FRANK CABLE (AS 40) at Polaris Point, Guam, marking the first time a VIRGINIA-class submarine had been tended in this way and demonstrating that the class could be supported using existing forward maintenance infrastructure in the Seventh Fleet area. On February 24, 2011, HAWAII returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after this six-month Western Pacific deployment. The Pacific Fleet report on the deployment noted that she had completed all assigned tasking, including theater and national-level operations, the Valiant Shield participation, and operations with the ABRAHAM LINCOLN Strike Group, while also making port visits to Yokosuka, Pusan and Singapore.

Following a period of maintenance and local operations in 2011, HAWAII continued to appear in the western Pacific. Photography from June 2011 shows her again at Yokosuka, indicating at least a shorter deployment or extended patrol with the Seventh Fleet. Although detailed accounts of her 2011-2012 activities between major deployments are not publicly available, like other submarines in Submarine Squadron One she alternated training, exercises and shorter patrols with scheduled maintenance, sustaining a ready posture in the central Pacific.

On May 21, 2012, HAWAII departed Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for another scheduled Western Pacific deployment, again under Seventh Fleet operational control. On June 9, 2012, she arrived at Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, beginning a six-day port visit that included tours for local officials and opportunities for crew rest. After returning to sea, HAWAII continued south. On July 3, 2012, she came alongside the submarine tender USS EMORY S. LAND (AS 39) at Polaris Point, Guam, illustrating the pattern of using Guam-based tenders to support forward-deployed submarines without requiring a return to Hawaii. Later that month, on July 20, 2012, HAWAII arrived again in Busan for a port visit during the deployment. A Navy news release described her presence as part of Seventh Fleet's efforts to build maritime partnerships and support stability on the Korean Peninsula, and noted this was a return visit following the 2010 port call. In early September, she turned south into the Philippine Sea. On September 7, 2012, the submarine arrived at Subic Bay, Philippines, for another port visit as part of the deployment, underscoring renewed U.S.-Philippine naval ties and the use of Subic as a logistics stop for visiting U.S. warships. On October 29, 2012, HAWAII was photographed being maneuvered in Apra Harbor, Guam, by harbor tugs GOLIATH and QUIPUHA as she entered Polaris Point, another indication of repeated Guam logistics stops during the deployment's closing phase. HAWAII returned to Pearl Harbor on November 20, 2012, after roughly six months deployed.

After this second Western Pacific cruise, the boat again reverted to a cycle of maintenance and local training. Open sources provide few specific 2013 events, but given the submarine's deployment tempo in 2010 and 2012, this period likely focused on readiness training, certification events and shorter missions in the Hawaiian operating areas while the Navy continued adjusting force posture to evolving regional challenges, including North Korean missile developments and tensions in the East and South China Seas.

In mid-2014, HAWAII took part in the biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise. Imagery dated July 8, 2014, shows her departing Pearl Harbor for the at-sea phase of RIMPAC 2014, an exercise held from June 26 to August 1, 2014, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California, involving forces from 22 nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, about 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel. RIMPAC 2014 occurred at a time when international navies were increasingly practicing complex coalition operations, and HAWAII's participation demonstrated the integration of advanced U.S. attack submarines into such multilateral training.

Shortly after RIMPAC 2014, HAWAII commenced another extended Western Pacific deployment. On August 20, 2014, she arrived at Fleet Activities Yokosuka as part of a deployment to the Western Pacific, with Pacific Fleet noting her role in supporting 7th Fleet operations and building ties with Japanese counterparts. Further east-Asian port visits during this period are not all documented in open sources, but the deployment continued into 2015. On February 5, 2015, HAWAII was again reported in Yokosuka during the same Western Pacific deployment, suggesting multiple operational phases in the Sea of Japan and Western Pacific approaches before she turned south toward Australia. During this 2014-2015 deployment, HAWAII also visited HMAS Stirling near Perth, Western Australia, and Sasebo, Japan. A Pacific Fleet press release, issued at the end of the cruise, highlighted those port visits and noted that while in Western Australia, the crew participated in events marking the 100th anniversary of the Royal Australian Navy's submarine force, including ceremonies at the Western Australian Maritime Museum and community outreach activities, reflecting the deepening Australia-U.S. submarine partnership.

The deployment lasted about seven months. On March 10, 2015, HAWAII returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, where families and friends greeted the crew on the submarine piers. The Navy reported that during the deployment twenty-three Sailors and six officers had earned their submarine warfare qualification, eighteen Sailors advanced in rank, and five Sailors were initiated into the chiefs' mess - illustrating the boat's role as both an operational asset and a platform for developing experienced submariners.

By mid-2015, the Navy also publicly noted HAWAII among the small group of VIRGINIA-class submarines that had already conducted early missions involving the deployment and retrieval of unmanned underwater vehicles from a dry deck shelter, foreshadowing one of the class's evolving mission sets in undersea surveillance and mine countermeasures. The precise dates and locations of these earlier UUV operations are not public, but the reference places HAWAII in the forefront of experimentation with new undersea technologies in the first decade of her career.

In subsequent years, public reporting on HAWAII's day-to-day operations is sparse, consistent with the generally low-visibility nature of attack submarine tasking. In 2018, however, she again appeared in a RIMPAC context. During RIMPAC 2018, HAWAII took part in a submarine-based insertion exercise with multinational special operations forces off Hawaii. The Navy described how the submarine, using a reconfigured torpedo room, transported approximately thirty special operations personnel to a debarkation point off Oahu, illustrating the VIRGINIA-class ability to support clandestine insertion of special forces over distance. This exercise occurred during a period of heightened interest in distributed maritime operations and emphasized the role of attack submarines in joint and combined special operations.

On June 6, 2019, HAWAII returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam after another six-month deployment to the Western Pacific. A Navy press release dated June 7, 2019, reported that she had traveled more than 40,000 nautical miles during the deployment, conducted "operations vital to national security", and taken part in several international cooperation activities, including an exercise with the French aircraft carrier CHARLES DE GAULLE (R91). The release noted that for many of the crew this was their first deployment and that the submarine's first foreign port visit on the cruise was in Japan, underscoring the enduring centrality of Japanese ports and waters to U.S. undersea operations in the Western Pacific. Returning to Pearl Harbor, HAWAII - nicknamed "War Canoe" by her crew - was escorted into the harbor by traditional outrigger canoes, highlighting her namesake connection to Hawaii.

Later in 2019, HAWAII was involved in a logistics experiment that used an unmanned aerial vehicle to resupply a submarine at sea. In an event described in Navy and base publications, a small UAV delivered a five-pound payload consisting of circuit cards, medical supplies and food to HAWAII while she was underway off Oahu. The test, conducted in November 2019, was part of broader efforts to explore new methods for sustaining deployed forces in distributed maritime environments, a theme that has grown in importance in Indo-Pacific planning.

Imagery from January 24, 2020, shows HAWAII returning to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam following time at sea, again emphasizing the continuous operational cycle of patrols, training and maintenance that characterizes forward-based submarines in the Pacific.

By late 2021, HAWAII entered a major maintenance period at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, described by the Navy as a depot modernization period (DMP) and the first Chief of Naval Operations-level depot modernization carried out on a VIRGINIA-class submarine at that yard. According to shipyard and DVIDS reporting, the maintenance began in late 2021 and ultimately involved roughly 19,000 individual work items. HAWAII spent almost two years in dry dock while significant refurbishments and upgrades were carried out on propulsion plant components, combat systems, sonar arrays, navigation gear, and hull and tank structures, followed by a period pierside to complete remaining work. The modernization aimed to ensure that HAWAII could meet the evolving demands of high-end undersea warfare in the Indo-Pacific for the remainder of her service life.

During this DMP, command of the submarine also changed. Cmdr. Preston W. Gilmore took command in April 2021 and led the crew through much of the complex shipyard period, including undocking on time and coordinating closely with shipyard personnel to complete thousands of tasks while maintaining crew training and qualification standards through "ride-along" days on other submarines. On November 21, 2023, a change of command ceremony was held on the fantail of the preserved battleship USS MISSOURI (BB 63) in Pearl Harbor. At that ceremony Cmdr. Daniel Jones relieved Cmdr. Gilmore as commanding officer of HAWAII.

By mid-2024, HAWAII was emerging from the DMP. Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and related Navy communications reported the completion of her submarine maintenance, and on July 12, 2024, DVIDS imagery recorded HAWAII beginning sea trials from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The accompanying description noted that the depot modernization period had begun in late 2021 and that after nearly two years in dry dock the submarine had shifted pier-side for final work before sea trials to verify readiness to rejoin the fleet. These trials marked HAWAII's return to operational status after extensive modernization, in line with wider U.S. efforts to sustain undersea force capacity amid growing demand in the Indo-Pacific.

Shortly afterward, HAWAII played a central role in a high-profile test of AUKUS Pillar 1, the trilateral U.S.-U.K.-Australia partnership on nuclear-powered submarine capability. On August 22, 2024, the submarine arrived at HMAS Stirling, Western Australia, joining the submarine tender USS EMORY S. LAND for the first nuclear-powered attack-submarine tendered maintenance availability conducted in Australia. Photographs from that day show HAWAII preparing to moor at HMAS Stirling for a scheduled port visit prior to the maintenance period, while EMORY S. LAND was already in port with a mixed crew of U.S. Navy and Royal Australian Navy personnel.

Over several weeks, U.S. and Australian sailors and Military Sealift Command mariners on the submarine tender carried out a Submarine Tendered Maintenance Period (STMP) on HAWAII at Stirling. Australian government statements and U.S. Navy releases emphasized that the work represented a historic milestone under AUKUS, demonstrating Australia's growing capacity to support allied nuclear-powered submarines and providing practical experience for Australian personnel who will eventually operate their own conventionally armed, nuclear-powered boats. During the STMP, distinguished visitors from both countries toured HMAS Stirling and HAWAII, reflecting the political and strategic importance attached to the event. On September 10, 2024, the U.S. Navy reported that the tendered maintenance period was complete and that HAWAII had departed HMAS Stirling following the successful STMP.

She then returned to sea, resuming operational tasking in the Indo-Pacific with a fully modernized configuration and having contributed directly to the early practical implementation of AUKUS.

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USS HAWAII Construction Gallery:

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USS HAWAII Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the HAWAII at Naval Base Pearl Harbor, Hi., on October 14, 2017.

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