U.S. Senator, MOH Recipient Visits USS Hawaii

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ronald Gutridge,

COMSUBPAC Public Affairs

PEARL HARBOR (NNS) -- The U.S. Senator for Hawaii, visited Virginia-class submarine USS Hawaii (SSN 776) March 24 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

World War II combat veteran and Medal of Honor recipient, the Honorable Daniel K. Inouye, toured the submarine and spoke with its Sailors.

"It is a great honor for us to have the Senator visiting our submarine," said Cmdr. Steve Mack, commanding officer. "The crew was excited to meet and talk to such a distinguished member of the U.S. Senate and a military icon."

During the tour, the crew of Hawaii explained basic submarine operations starting in the torpedo room where the Senator observed the latest submarine weapons operations. Next was the control room where sonar and visual observation techniques were explained.

Following the tour, the Senator talked with the crew about current events and commended them for their efforts.

"Your presence here in the Pacific, an area of major concern for all of us, is very important. I am extremely pleased and in a way, relieved that you are all here," said Inouye. "I want to congratulate all of you, so on behalf of the United States Senate, we thank you very much."

Inouye, the most senior member of the U.S. Senate and President Pro-Tempore, is known for his distinguished record as a legislative leader. He is the most senior member of the U.S. Senate and the second longest serving Senator in history. He was sworn in as President Pro-Tempore of the U.S. Senate on June 28, 2010 and is now third in line to the Presidency after the Vice-President and the Speaker of the House. He is also a World War II combat veteran with the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, who earned the nation's highest award for military valor, the Medal of Honor.

Measuring 377 feet long and weighing 7,800 tons when submerged, Hawaii is one of the Navy's newest and most technologically sophisticated submarines.

The state-of-the-art submarine is capable of supporting a multitude of missions,including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike, naval special warfare involving special operations forces, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and strike group operations.