At the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipyard in Newport News, the gigantic shipbuilding site opposite Norfolk/Virginia on North America's east coast, the 23rd attack submarine of the VIRGINIA class was christened "USS New Jersey" on Monday, 15 November 2021.
Christening and construction progress
Susan DiMarco, retired dentist and wife of former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, had the traditional task of smashing a bottle of the best American sparkling wine on the round nose of the boat. As the designated godmother, she had already written her name in chalk on a steel plate in March 2019 during the keel authentication ceremony - the first assembly of partially produced sections of the boat, which corresponds to a conventional keel laying in today's construction methods. At that time, 40 %s of the boat had already been prefabricated in three years. The completion of the watertight, pressure-resistant outer hull in February of this year preceded the christening. The boat is now 80 % built and will remain at the outfitting pier after floating until delivery to the US Navy at the end of 2022.
Virginia Block IV - the gender-neutral submarine
The "USS New Jersey" is the first US submarine to be built according to new, gender-neutral criteria. After the initial integration of women on board submarines, they were first given disproportionately large hygienic and accommodation spaces, first organisationally and later structurally through conversions. This was not the best solution, as it created new imbalances in the crew. With the new building regulations, more balanced living conditions can be achieved on board for all rank groups.
The facts
The boats of the VIRGINIA class (or 774 class) are 115 metres long and have a diameter of 10 metres. When submerged, they displace 8,000 tonnes and can reach speeds of up to 35 knots with nuclear propulsion. Their test diving depth is given as around 500 metres. They are equipped with advanced Mark 48 torpedoes and Tomahawk land-based cruise missiles of the latest armament. They also carry unmanned underwater drones. They have been developed for a wide range of missions in deep and shallow water. As a less costly alternative to the SEAWOLF-class boats from the Cold War era, they will gradually replace the even older LOS ANGELES-class boats. In the current "Block IV" batch, improvements have been introduced that allow the boats to undergo only three maintenance periods in their lifetime instead of four as before. This gives these boats an additional operational period that can be planned for. The construction contract for ten of the Block IV boats was awarded to General Dynamics Electric Boat Company as the main contractor in April 2014. The VIRGINIA-class boats are to remain in service until at least 2060.
Historical
Incidentally, the boat bears the name of the city in which the first submarine of the American Navy was designed and built at the Crescent shipyard before 1900. After five prototypes, the "Holland VI" (named after its developer and investor John Holland) with reloadable torpedo bays and a pneumatic deck gun attached to the hull was able to prove its value for warfare and was purchased by the government. The John Holland Torpedo Boat Company received 150,000 dollars for it. The boat was commissioned on 12 October 1900 in Newport/Rhode Island as the "USS Holland". It sailed until 1905, when its spent batteries were removed and fresh ones were never reinstalled.
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