Nuclear-powered sub USS City of Corpus Christi docks in Brisbane where crew will volunteer to help with flood damage at Maritime Museum

A NUCLEAR-powered US Navy submarine has quietly pulled into the Port of Brisbane to little fanfare and not even a peep of protest.

A NUCLEAR-powered US Navy submarine has quietly pulled into the Port of Brisbane to little fanfare and not even a peep of protest.

Only a handful of curious locals gathered to watch as the 6000 tonne attack submarine was guided in by tug boats.

A US Consulate spokeswoman said some of the USS City of Corpus Christi's 140-strong personnel would volunteer to help clean up some flood damage at the Queensland Maritime Museum on Monday.

``They'll be doing some volunteering at the maritime museum where we understand they have a few tasks for them, such as scrubbing the hull of the boat,'' she said.

``Those who take part in community relations events like this are all volunteers, they are in no way ordered to go.''

The spokeswoman said the crew would enjoy some liberty, or time off, over the weekend.

The USS City of Corpus Christi's home port is in Guam, but the spokeswoman would not say where the submarine came from or where its next stop would be due to operational security reasons.

The submarine, part of Submarine Group 7, surfaced off Caloundra today and made its way down the coastline where it will dock for about a week while provisions are restocked.

Donna Harrowell, 40, of Burpengary brought her son Darcy, 3, down to see the submarine's arrival.

She said he was somewhat interested, but as it was hard to see on the other side of the port, Darcy's interest soon turned to a larger ship close by.

Darcy said it was 'great' watching the submarine come down the canal.

``It looked like a fish because it had a tail sticking out,'' he said.

The last publicised visit of a US submarine to Brisbane was the USS Columbia in 2003.

That sub was on its way home from the Gulf War when it was met by about 15 protestors, who paddled out to the 30m exclusion zone, armed with banners and flags.

The ``Peace Fleet'' staged a peaceful protest.

Other submarines have docked during military operations, but their presence has not been publicised.

There were no protestors at Luggage Point waiting for the submarine today.

But Friends of the Earth Queensland Nuclear Free Alliance spokeswoman Robin Taubenfeld said, coincidentally, a nuclear free day rally was already scheduled for this weekend.

"We weren't aware a ship would be coming in, as we've been busying organising the stuff that was already planned for this weekend," she said.

She said with the crisis with the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant in Japan and other issues such as potential uranium mining in Queensland and wars throughout the world, the alliance was holding a Nuclear Free and Peaceful Queensland Workshop Day and Action Weekend at the CEPU building on Peel Street, Brisbane from 9am to 4pm Saturday.

A rally for peace and nuclear disarmament is also scheduled for 2pm Sunday in Redacliffe Place, or Brisbane Square.

"One day of forums and discussions will have guest speakers talking about nuclear matters, with the first half of the day being questions about Fukushima and can can we justify uranium mining in Australia," Ms Taubenfeld said.

"The second half of day we will be talking about wars and peace and 'Where next for Australian troops?'. We'll also be questioning the Australian and US alliance.

"So our major concern about the ship is the presence of a capable war machine here. So there are political implications as well as war implications."