US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus hosted a ship-naming ceremony on September 2 in Ames, Iowa to announce that SSN 797, a Virginia-class attack submarine, will bear the name USS Iowa.
The submarine will be named to honor the history its namesake state has with the Navy. Iowa is home to former Naval Air Station (NAS) Ottumwa, one of a few air training stations created to increase the number of trained pilots in response to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The future USS Iowa will be the fourth naval vessel to bear the name.
Virginia-class attack submarines provide the Navy with the capabilities required to maintain the nation’s undersea supremacy well into the 21st century. They have enhanced stealth, sophisticated surveillance capabilities and special warfare enhancements that will enable them to meet the Navy’s multi-mission requirements.
Each Virginia-class submarine is 7,800-tons and 377 feet in length, has a beam of 34 feet, and can operate at more than 25 knots submerged.
The submarine will be built under a unique teaming agreement between General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division wherein both companies build certain portions of each submarine and then alternate deliveries. Iowa will be delivered by GDEB located in Groton, Connecticut.
Image: US Navy