Virginia-Class submarine reaches a construction milestone at NNS yard
Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE:HII) Newport News Shipbuilding division hosted a visit by former U.S. Sen. John Warner and ship's sponsor Jeanne Warner on April 3 to see the steady progress being made on the Virginia-class fast attack submarine bearing his name, the shipbuilder said in a news release.
John Warner (SSN 785) has reached its "pressure hull complete" construction milestone, which signifies that all of the submarine's hull sections are joined to form a single, water-tight unit. JohnWarner will be the 12th Virginia-class submarine and is the only Virginia-class submarine to bear the name of a person.
Before adding his signature to a banner signed by John Warner shipbuilders and crew, Sen. Warner addressed a crowd of hundreds assembled in the shipyard's Module Outfitting Facility. "Nothing is safer from the enemy to a greater degree than this submarine," he said. "Take pride, you who are present today and those in the yard who are working on other ships and the families that support you. Take pride in understanding how you are preserving freedom for our nation and for other nations for the future ahead in this ever more dangerous world in which we live."
Pressure hull complete is the last major milestone before the submarine's christening this summer. Construction began in April 2009 under a teaming arrangement between Newport News and General Dynamics Electric Boat. The submarine is about 80 percent complete and is slated for delivery to the Navy in 2015.
Cmdr. Dan Caldwell, the pre-commissioning unit's commanding officer, and members of the crew also joined the sub's namesake in celebrating the construction milestone. "In less than 12 months," Caldwell said, "we will cast off our mooring lines and head out to sea, where we will sound the klaxon and descend into the environment that this ship was designed to dominate. That day is much sooner than you may think and we need to be ready. We will be ready."
Huntington Ingalls Industries designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder at its Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions. Employing more than 38,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, HII also provides a wide variety of products and services to the commercial energy industry and other government customers, including the Department of Energy.
