Successors to the US Navy’s Los Angeles–class fast-attack submarines (presented in volume 1), the Seawolf- and Virginia-class SSNs are presented here from their initial design and construction, through testing and trials, to current operations. From its debut in 1997, the nuclear-powered (SSN-21) represented the lead ship of the deadliest submarine ever to be constructed for the USN during the Cold War. With the end of the Cold War, the Seawolf-class SSNs were limited to the three that were under construction at the time, and the program was terminated. With only three in the class, the supersecret USS (SSN-23) is virtually off limits to any and all photography. The author’s unprecedented access onboard a Seawolf-class SSN—the USS (SSN-22)—is a first for the Navy and provides exclusive coverage found only in this book. In place of the Seawolf class, the Virginia-class attack submarine is an advanced stealth, multimission nuclear-powered submarine for deep-ocean antisubmarine warfare and littoral (shallow water) operations.