Staff writerYOKOSUKA, Kanagawa Pref. -- Seen from dockside, the silhouette of the USS Topeka strikes an unusually humble pose.
An austere sail devoid of fairwater planes juts up from the flat black hull. A white banner draping the gangplank proclaims the nuclear-powered Topeka to be the "defender of the heartland," a tribute to its namesake city, the capital of Kansas.
But it's not what's outside this Los Angeles-class submarine that matters. Despite its desirably simple appearance, the USS Topeka has what the U.S. Navy wants in an aircraft carrier escort: speed, silence and powerful weaponry.