Navy Secretary Names Three New Virginia Class Attack Submarines
30 Jan 2008
Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced today the names of three Virginia class submarines:
- SSN 780 - USS Missouri
- SSN 781 - USS California
- SSN 782 - USS Mississippi
SSN 777 USS North Carolina under construction in 2006
General Characteristics, Virginia class
Builder: General Dynamics Electric Boat Division and Northrop Grumman Newport News
Date Deployed: Commissioned 23 October 2004
Propulsion: One nuclear reactor, one shaft
Length: 377 feet (114.8 meters)
Beam: 34 feet (10.4 meters)
Displacement: Approximately 7,800 tons (7,925 metric tons) submerged
Speed: 25+ knots (28+ miles per hour, 46.3+ kph)
Crew: 134: 14 Officers; 120 Enlisted
Armament: Tomahawk missiles, twelve VLS tubes, MK-48 ADCAP torpedoes, four torpedo tubes.
January 30th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Let’s see… all three were names of World War II battleships. California and Mississippi were most recently CGNs, and the last Missouri is still around. But STILL no USS Montana. It’s GOTTA be a conspiracy. I might have to explore this one at length at Wizbang. J.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I had heard they were thinking of calling the next DDX boat the USS Hanna Montana. That’s kind of close…
January 31st, 2008 at 8:54 am
The top speed is listed as 25 knots….that strikes me as a little conservative. I assume that the real top speed is classified? Any thoughts on how fast our LA, Seawolf, and Virginias can really drive?
January 31st, 2008 at 9:08 am
How about a USS South Dakota? The last one did pretty well. Of course, It should be a battleship.
February 1st, 2008 at 12:38 am
Heh, just for kicks I e-mail out lone congressman and both senators about getting screwed again on a USS Montana.