The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Indiana arrives at its new homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, on July 22, 2025. (Scott Barnes/U.S. Navy)
FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii — The fast-attack submarine USS Indiana arrived Tuesday at its new homeport in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, becoming the third Virginia-class boat to join Submarine Squadron 7.
Indiana’s previous homeport was Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Conn.
“We look forward to working with Submarine Squadron 7 and our Pearl Harbor partners to prepare Indiana — the ‘Battle Bass’ — for any tasking, at any time, in defense of our nation,” Cmdr. Kyle Johnson, the vessel’s commander, said in a Tuesday news release.
Commissioned in 2018, the Indiana carries a crew of about 14 officers and 120 sailors.
The sub completed its most recent six-month deployment to the U.S. European Command area of responsibility on March 27, according to the release.
Submarine Squadron 7 supports three Virginia-class subs, including USS Missouri and USS Colorado, as well as four Los Angeles-class subs: USS Charlotte, USS Tucson, USS Columbia and USS Toledo, which homeported in Pearl Harbor earlier this month.
Submarine Squadron 1 supports six Virginia-class subs also homeported at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. They are USS Hawaii, USS North Carolina, USS Mississippi, USS Illinois, USS Vermont and USS Montana.
The Navy is in the process of replacing its aging Los Angeles-class subs with the Virginia-class.
Virginia-class subs are designed for a greater range of missions, with an emphasis on littoral operations, according to a Navy fact sheet.
They support a host of missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The subs are designed so that their torpedo rooms can be reconfigured to hold a large number of special operations forces and their equipment during extended deployments.
Their weaponry includes Tomahawk cruise missiles and MK48 torpedoes, which can be tethered to the sub by a thin wire used to direct and redirect their course.
