Guam welcomes second returning fast-attack submarine in 2 weeks

A fast-attack submarine returned to Guam on Thursday, becoming the second fast-attack vessel to come home from deployment in 15 days.

Photographs released by the Navy on Saturday show the USS Annapolis mooring two days earlier at Polaris Point, Naval Base Guam. The boat is assigned to Submarine Squadron 15, which is based on the island.

“Annapolis returned following a routine underway period,” squadron spokesman Navy Lt. James Caliva said by email Monday.

The squadron’s submarines “routinely operate and train throughout the Pacific to maintain our warfighting advantage in support of forward-deployed operations,” he said.

The Annapolis made no port calls, Caliva said. He declined further comment on the Annapolis’ mission, citing operational security.

The Virginia-class USS Minnesota, another fast-attack submarine, returned to Polaris Point on July 29, completing its first deployment from the island since joining Submarine Squadron 15 in November 2024.

The Los Angeles-class fast-attack submarine USS Annapolis arrives at Naval Base Guam, Aug. 13, 2026. (Michael Orourke/U.S. Navy)

The Annapolis, commissioned in April 1992, is one of four fast-attack submarines assigned to the squadron.

“Renowned for their unparalleled speed, endurance, stealth, and mobility, fast-attack submarines are the backbone of the Navy’s submarine force,” the squadron wrote Saturday on its Facebook page.

“Regarded as apex predators of the sea, Guam’s fast-attack submarines serve at the tip of the spear, helping to reaffirm the submarine force’s forward-deployed presence in support of a free and open Pacific,” the squadron wrote.

The Annapolis and another Los Angeles-class boat, the USS Asheville, cruised together on Dec. 17, according to images posted on the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service.

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.

“With the number of foreign diesel-electric/air-independent propulsion submarines increasing yearly, the United States Submarine Force relies on its technological superiority and the speed, endurance, mobility, stealth and payload afforded by nuclear power to retain its preeminence in the undersea battlespace,” Submarine Force Pacific wrote on its website.