Fast-attack submarines USS Annapolis, left, and USS Asheville steam in formation off the coast of Guam, Dec. 17, 2025. (James Caliva/U.S. Navy)
Two U.S. Navy fast-attack submarines surfacing side by side off Guam — a rare sight for vessels designed to remain unseen — has drawn attention online and prompted discussion about undersea signaling in the Indo-Pacific.
The Los Angeles-class submarines USS Asheville and USS Annapolis were photographed cruising together on Dec. 17, according to images posted Monday on the Defense Visual Information Distribution System.
The submarines are among five assigned to Squadron 15 at Polaris Point, Naval Base Guam.
“Renowned for their unparalleled speed, endurance, stealth, and mobility, fast-attack submarines serve as the backbone of the Navy’s submarine force,” the service said in a description accompanying the images, noting their role in safeguarding maritime interests worldwide.
The Pacific Fleet Submarine Force in Hawaii did not respond to email and phone requests for comment this week.
Official images of two submarines operating together and released publicly are uncommon, and online defense analysts quickly seized on them.
Fast-attack submarines USS Annapolis, top, and USS Asheville steam in formation off the coast of Guam, Dec. 17, 2025. (Bryan Mai/U.S. Navy)
Global Defense News/Army Recognition Group, a Belgian website, described the photos’ release as “more than a public affairs moment,” in an unsigned analysis on its website Tuesday.
“It captures a deliberately uncommon posture for platforms built to stay unseen, and it offers a window into how the U.S. Navy is using Guam-based undersea forces to signal readiness in a region where warning times are shrinking,” the analysis said.
“Operationally, it hints at surge depth: not one submarine on station, but multiple hulls available from a forward hub,” the analysis added.
Fast-attack submarines are designed to hunt enemy submarines and surface ships, strike targets ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles, deploy special operations forces and gather intelligence, according to the Navy.
The images emerged amid heightened military activity across the Indo-Pacific.
A photograph of two submarines cruising together may be a rare event, but it lacks the scale of Chinese aircraft warships circling Australia or U.S. Navy warships passing through the Taiwan Strait, said Benjamin Blandin, a research fellow with the Yokosuka Council on Asia Pacific Studies.
Fast-attack submarines USS Annapolis, bottom, and USS Asheville steam in formation off the coast of Guam, Dec. 17, 2025. (James Caliva/U.S. Navy)
The United States and China both “have engaged in a series of strategic signaling to show strength and test the other ones’ response,” he told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday. “So, for me, this has nothing out of the ordinary and is actually far from provocative.”
The submarine images may carry a clear deterrent message, said Ian Chong, an associate professor of political science at the National University of Singapore.
The photos “intend to demonstrate that the United States remains militarily committed to the Indo-Pacific and would like to discourage any actor who may wish to engage in military activity Washington considers to be against its interests,” he said by email Wednesday.
“This demonstration of force occurs in the backdrop of increasing and intensifying [Chinese] military activity around Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and elsewhere in the South China Sea,” Chong wrote.
