A Pearl Harbor-based nuclear submarine will be transferred to Guam late next year, according to a congresswoman from the territory.

But Navy officials in Hawai'i yesterday would not confirm Congressional Delegate Made-leine Z. Bordallo's announcement Monday that the USS Buffalo is scheduled to begin a homeport assignment in Guam in September 2006.

"Our long-stated goal is to have three nuclear-powered attack submarines in Guam, and with the USS San Francisco going to Bremerton for repairs, we do want to have a replacement in Guam," said Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for the Pearl Harbor-based Pacific Fleet Submarine Force. "But the specifics of that we are not ready to address yet."

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he has not been notified of any submarine move. But if true, he said, it was a good example of the Navy making strategic rather than political decisions.

"Hawai'i is not a branch of the military," Abercrombie said. "I don't think we are some colonial outpost. These kinds of basing decisions have to be made on what their strategic needs are."

Repairs to the USS San Francisco were needed after it struck an undersea mountain in January while cruising to Australia. One crewman died and dozens were injured in the accident.

The Buffalo is part of the Navy's aging fleet of Los Angeles class fast-attack submarines. It was commissioned in 1982.

Currently, there are 17 submarines assigned to Pearl Harbor, all of them Los Angeles class.

Each has a crew of 140 to 150 sailors.

Two other Los Angeles class submarines already are homeported on the Western Pacific island — the USS Corpus Christie and the USS Houston.

"The assignment of the USS Buffalo to Guam reflects the Navy's continued recognition of Guam's strategic location and importance in the Pacific," Bordallo said.

The Buffalo has been homeported at Pearl Harbor since 1984, Bordallo said.

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.