The Navy announced yesterday that a third new Virginia-class submarine, the USS North Carolina, will be homeported in Hawai'i, with the submarine expected to arrive next summer.

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, said in 2007 that the USS Hawai'i, USS Texas and USS North Carolina would be based at Pearl Harbor.

Yesterday's announcement by the Navy is its first official acknowledgement of the impending arrival of the North Carolina.

The state's namesake sub, the USS Hawai'i, arrived in July, and the Texas pulled into Pearl Harbor in November after heading up to the North Pole via the East Coast and then transiting through the Panama Canal.

The Navy last year said every two of three Virginia-class submarines being built on the East Coast initially would be based at Pearl Harbor. The remainder will be at Groton, Conn.

The Navy plans to build 30 of the submarines, which cost between $2.3 billion and $2.7 billion, and have improved stealth and surveillance capabilities.

Officials also identified the USS California as another Virginia-class sub destined for Pearl Harbor.

Recognizing the importance of the Asia-Pacific region and the increased threat from foreign-nation subs in the Pacific, the Pentagon in 2006 mandated that 60 percent of the Navy's submarines be homeported in the Pacific by the end of 2010.

With the North Carolina's arrival, 32 of the Navy's 53 fast-attack submarines will be based in the Pacific, with 19 of those at Pearl Harbor.