Page 42: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (September 1990)

Leader Of The Pack.

Seawolf To Seawolf,

The Proud Tradition Continues

Experience under the sea. Submarine propulsion and ships service turbine generator experience. GE has more of it than anyone. It's why our Company is eminently qualified to design, manufacture and test these critical systems for the SSN 21 Seawolf. In 1957, seatrials of the first nuclear powered Seawolf heralded another era of GE contributions to the Silent Service. Since then, the Company has continued to pioneer advanced systems aboard every class of submarine including the latest 688's.

SSN 688 Submarines, A Technical Standard

The entire Class relies on GE systems for both propulsion and ships service electrical demands. Their reliability is extraordinary. In fact, since the commissioning of the Los Angeles in 1976, these systems endured the equivalent of hundreds of years of service without a single ship coming offline for an at-sea failure. Why? For a number of good reasons. First, GE engineers extrapolate the best ideas from existing technology and proven hardware during design and manu- facture, while paying particular attention to key Navy criteria: reliability, noise, size, weight, performance, maintainability and accessibility. Then they exhaustively test each system under shipboard conditions before shipment.

On-Time Delivery, Worldwide Service

GE demonstrated construction efficiency, too, by delivering these 688 propulsion and SSTG systems to shipyards ahead of schedule. After installation, GE provides life cycle support through service facilities in every major Navy port in the U.S., and in major ports worldwide. Of course, factory experts are on-call 24 hours a day, too. Through this service team, continued evolutionary advances are made available to upgrade the existing fleet.

Such upgrades aboard 688's permit them to remain at sea years longer between overhauls.

Into The 21st Century

The heritage Edison began with the First shipboard power generation system continues at GE Naval & Drive Turbine Systems. Today, we applv the resources of our $50 billion dollar Company to develop advanced propulsion and ships service systems. It's the critical difference GE engineers will rely on to advance the Navy mission aboard the next generation of Seawolf.

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GE Naval & Drive Turbine Systems