Silent Power Surfaces: Royal Navy Escorts US Nuclear Giant USS Alaska Into Gibraltar Bay
The US Navy’s Ohio-class nuclear-powered submarine, USS Alaska (SSBN-732), arrived in the Bay of Gibraltar under heavy escort.
A US Navy Ohio-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine arrived in the Bay of Gibraltar yesterday.
The submarine, identified as the USS Alaska (SSBN-732), entered the bay on Sunday evening under tight security. It was escorted by vessels from the Royal Navy Gibraltar Squadron and assisted by tugboats while berthing at the South Mole.
A 200-meter exclusion zone was put in place around the submarine during its arrival. Local authorities and Gibraltar Defence Police were involved in the operation.
This marks one of the rare public visits by a US ballistic missile submarine to Gibraltar in recent decades. The US Navy has not released details regarding the duration of the visit or its operational purpose.
Photos and videos of the submarine’s arrival have circulated widely on social media and local news outlets, including Gibraltar Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) and the Gibraltar Chronicle.
The USS Alaska is one of the US Navy’s fleet of Ohio-class SSBNs, which form a key part of America’s nuclear deterrent force.