The U.S. Navy has christened the future USS Utah (SSN 801), the final submarine of the Virginia-class Block IV program, during a ceremony at General Dynamics Electric Boat’s Groton shipyard.
Utah (SSN 801) is the 28th Virginia-class attack submarine and the last of ten boats built under Block IV, which introduced design and maintenance enhancements aimed at reducing total ownership costs and increasing operational availability. The Block IV submarines are engineered for 15 deployments across their service life, one more than their predecessors.
The event marked a significant milestone in the Navy’s undersea warfare program and celebrated the culmination of two decades of Virginia-class production.
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The Virginia-class assembly building at @GDElectricBoat ’s #GrotonCT shipyard was all decked out on October 25 for the christening of PCU Utah (SSN 801). EB shipbuilders, the ship’s crew, U.S. Navy personnel and government officials joined both live and virtually to celebrate this… pic.twitter.com/yUOy1YmOM5
Following delivery and commissioning, Utah will join the U.S. Navy’s Atlantic Fleet, bolstering undersea readiness as the service transitions toward the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines and the next-generation SSN(X) program.
The previous USS Utah (BB 31/AG 16), a Florida-class battleship commissioned in 1911 and later converted to a target ship, was sunk during the December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, with 58 crew members lost.
The Virginia class represents the cornerstone of the navy’s fast-attack submarine fleet. Built under a partnership between General Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding, these submarines are capable of anti-submarine, anti-surface, and strike warfare, as well as intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and special operations support.