by DAVID AXE
On July 27, the U.S. Navy guided missile submarine USS Georgia sailed into her homeport in Kings Bay, Georgia, ending the 42-year-old vessel’s final deployment. A deployment during which the 18,750-ton, nuclear-powered submarine took part in U.S.-led strikes on Iran.
Georgia decommissioned a few days after arriving in Kings Bay. She was the first of the four SSGNs in the U.S. fleet to leave active service. Sister ships USS Ohio, USS Florida and USS Michigan are slated to decommission by the end of 2028. All four vessels were converted from surplus ballistic missile submarines starting in 2002.
Each SSGN has 154 vertical launch tubes for Tomahawk cruise missiles—the most of any American warship. The SSGNs’ combined 616 VLS tubes account for 7% of the U.S. fleet’s roughly 9,000 total tubes, which launch heavy surface-to-air missiles in addition to Tomahawks. Those tubes represent the U.S. Navy’s enduring advantage over rival fleets. Even the fast-growing Chinese navy still has fewer than 5,000 VLS tubes.
