More details on USS Washington, the Dreamliner sub?

Here are some images of Virginia class submarines like the USS Washington, the new boat announced today by the Navy.

It's a nice touch that the USS Washington is SSN 787. It won't have a carbon-fiber composite hull like the Dreamliner but it does use "fly by wire" controls.

The sub also uses digital imaging systems with two "photonics masts" instead of a traditional periscope.

Construction of the USS Washington began in September and its homeport hasn't yet been named. Other Virginia-class subs have been operating since 2004.

Here's the triple seven - the USS North Carolina (SSN 777) arriving in Sasebo, Japan, last month, in a Navy photo:

Here's the USS North Carolina arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii in November 2010, in a Navy photo:

Here's the USS North Carolina launching at Newport News Shipyard in May 2007, in an image from Huntington Ingalls Industries:

Here's the USS California (SSN 781) rolling out of the shipyard in a Huntington Ingalls image that's been "retouched for security clearances":

Here's the Virginia-class attack submarine Mississippi during sea trials on the Thames River earlier this month, in a Navy photo:

Here's the USS New Mexico (SSN 779) in Groton, Conn., last month:

Here's a diagram showing the layout of a Virginia-class submarine:

Here are the specs of the Virginia-class attack subs:

Builder: General Dynamics Electric Boat Division and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. - Newport News Shipbuilding.
Propulsion: One nuclear reactor, one shaft
Length: 377 feet (114.8 meters)
Beam: 33 feet (10.0584 meters)
Displacement: Approximately 7,800 tons (7,925 metric tons) submerged
Speed: 25+ knots (28+ miles per hour, 46.3+ kph)
Crew: 132: 15 officers; 117 enlisted
Armament: Tomahawk missiles, twelve VLS tubes, MK48 ADCAP torpedoes, four torpedo tubes.

Here's the last USS Washington, shown after an overhaul in Puget Sound in 1945. The battleship was commissioned in 1941 and used in the North Atlantic and South Pacific. It was sold for scrap in 1961.

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