NC Submarine Foundation

The purpose of our NC Submarine Museum is to honor the men and women who served aboard the 3 US Navy nuclear-powered submarines named in honor of our state of North Carolina: USS Asheville SSN 758; USS Charlotte SSN 766; and the USS North Carolina SSN 777. The second goal of our NC Submarine Museum is to help students, teachers and other visitors understand the practical application of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) as these principles and tools help to explain how a nuclear-powered submarine operates quietly, safely and reliably in the the depths of all of the oceans covering our planet. When most of us think of a submarine, we recall movies depicting tense moments in cramped, underwater spaces with periscopes scanning the surface of the ocean and torpedoes motoring to their targets. We don’t often consider how a modern, nuclear-powered submarine operates under water: how does a submarine know where it’s going without either windows or the capability to observe the sun or to see land?! How does the crew sleep, cook and shower? When the submarine stays under water for weeks and months at a time, how do sailors breathe underwater?