Virginia to be Commissioned in Namesake State

Since 07-16-04

From NSL UPDATE 12-22-2003

From Commander, U.S. Naval Submarine Force Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The Honorable Gordon R. England, Secretary of the Navy, has approved Norfolk, Va., as the commissioning location of Pre-commissioning Unit (PCU) Virginia, the Navy’s newest fast-attack submarine and the first submarine of the class.

Lynda Johnson Robb, wife of former U.S. Senator Charles S. Robb of Virginia, daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson and the submarine’s sponsor, christened Virginia during a ceremony at General Dynamics Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Conn., Aug. 16.

Virginia, the ninth ship to bear this name, is designed for battle space dominance across a broad spectrum of regional and littoral missions. While maintaining a robust capability for open-ocean anti-submarine warfare, Virginia incorporates an advanced weapons system, vastly improved sonar equipment and cutting edge intelligence gathering capabilities that are key for joint operations in shallower coastal regions, including land attack, intelligence gathering, mine reconnaissance and deployment of special forces.

Weighing in at approximately 7,800 tons with a length of 370 feet, Virginia is longer but lighter than the previous Seawolf-class of submarines. The 132-member crew can launch Tomahawk land-attack missiles from 12 vertical launch system tubes and Mark 48 advanced capability torpedoes from four 21-inch torpedo tubes.

Virginia’s keel was laid Sept. 2, 1999. Following Virginia’s commissioning, PCUs Texas (SSN 775) and Hawaii (SSN 776) will be the next submarines of this class to join the fleet.