[Onkel Neal]

Why Did America Stop Building the Best (and Most Dangerous Sub)

Despite their advanced, world-beating capabilities, only three Seawolf-class submarines were ever built, doomed by the end of the Cold War and escalating costs. Fast, deep diving and bristling with weapons, the U.S. Navy’s Seawolf subs are more relevant than ever in the face of Russian and Chinese naval ambitions.

The U.S. submarine force experience a crash dive in numbers. The force went from an all-time high of 102 attack submarines in 1987 to just fifty-seven submarines in 1999. This decline wasn’t just limited to submarines, although the sub force was hurt the most—during the same period, the U.S. Navy ship force declined from 594 ships to just 337.