Some are doing Christmas shopping – others are laying the keels of two Virginia-class attack submarines in the period of 14 days! At the end of November, the ceremonial “keel authentication” for the 27th Virginia-class attack submarine was carried out at Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) in Hampton Roads, Virginia. SSN 800 is to be called “USS Arkansas” in the future.
Further northeast, 700 kilometers away, at the Electric Boat Division (GDEB) of the General Dynamics Corporation in Quonset Point/Rhode Island, the construction of the “USS Arizona” (SSN 803), the 30th boat of the Virginia class started.
Teamwork
The two specialist shipyards are cooperating in the modular construction of the US Navy’s nuclear-powered, 115-meter-long combat submarine with a displacement of 8,000 tons when submerged. Under the technical management of GEDB, the components are produced in Quonset Point and in Groton/Connecticut, 60 kilometers to the west, but also in Newport News, which are then assembled into entire hulls and equipment in the Groton and Newport News shipyards.
USS North Dakota (SSN 784), Gold Star Bridge, Groton, Connecticut. Foto: U.S. Navy /M. Santiago
serial production
At NNS in 2022 the construction number 21, SSN 794 “USS Montana” was handed over to the Navy; SSN 796 ”USS New Jersey” (#23) was launched there and SSN 798 “USS Massachusetts” (#25) is under construction. To the north at GDEB in Groton, Hull 22, SSN 795 “USS Hyman G. Rickover” was handed over to the Navy, SSN 797 “USS Iowa” (#24) was launched there and SSN 799 “USS Idaho” and SSN 801 “USS Utah” (# 26 and 28) are under construction. The # 29 will probably go into construction at NNS when the funds are released and a construction line is opened in Newport News.
background
Incidentally, SSN 803 is the first US Navy ship to bear the name “USS Arizona” since the sinking of the battleship BB 39 in Pearl Harbor after being hit by bombs on December 7, 1941 and a two-day fire with 1,100 victims. In addition, it will be the first Virginia boat of Block V, in which the existing boat design is to have a so-called “payload module” with four extra-wide, vertical launch silos for a wide variety of weapons and resources in addition to the twelve Tomahawk cruise missiles in two silos. The initially designed series comprised 30 construction numbers – meanwhile 48 boats of this type are planned until 2033 in the construction program.
If it works, then it works!