USA: Two submarine keels in a fortnight

Some do Christmas shopping - others lay the keels of two Virginia-class attack submarines in the space of 14 days! At the end of November, Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) in Hampton Roads, Virginia, performed the ceremonial keel authentication for the 27th Virginia-class attack submarine. SSN 800 is to bear the name "USS Arkansas" in the future.

Further north-east, 700 kilometres away, at the Electric Boat Division (GDEB) of General Dynamics Corporation in Quonset Point/Rhode Island, construction of the "USS Arizona" (SSN 803), the 30th boat of the Virginia class, began in the same way at the beginning of December.

Teamwork

The two specialist shipyards are cooperating on the modular construction of the US Navy's 115-metre-long nuclear-powered combat submarines, which displace 8,000 tonnes when submerged. Under the technical leadership of GEDB in Quonset Point and in Groton/Connecticut, 60 kilometres to the west, as well as in Newport News, the components are produced, which are then assembled into complete hulls and equipment in the shipyards in Groton and Newport News.

USS North Dakota (SSN 784), Gold Star Bridge, Groton, Connecticut. Photo: U.S. Navy /M. Santiago

Series production

At NNS, construction number 21, SSN 794 "USS Montana", was handed over to the Navy in 2022; SSN 796 "USS New Jersey" (# 23) was launched there and SSN 798 "USS Massachusetts" (#25) is under construction. In the north at GDEB in Groton, construction number 22, SSN 795 "USS Hyman G. Rickover", was handed over to the Navy, SSN 797 "USS Iowa" (#24) has been launched there and SSN 799 "USS Idaho" and SSN 801 "USS Utah" (# 26 and 28) are under construction. The # 29 will then probably go into construction at NNS once the funds have been released and a construction line has been cleared in Newport News.

Background

Incidentally, SSN 803 is the first US Navy ship to bear the name "USS Arizona" since the battleship BB 39 was sunk in Pearl Harbor after being hit by bombs on 7 December 1941 and burning for two days with 1,100 casualties. It will also be the first Virginia Block V boat to incorporate a so-called "payload module" with four extra-wide, vertical launch silos for a wide variety of weapons and equipment into the existing boat design alongside the twelve Tomahawk cruise missiles in two silos. The initial design series comprised 30 construction numbers - 48 boats of this type are now planned in the construction programme until 2033.

When it's on, it's on!