| Submit your comments on this article |
| Science & Technology |
| Navy's newest fast-attack sub, North Carolina, is christened |
| 2007-04-24 |
| Under a cloudless Carolina-blue sky, shipbuilders and the Navy on Saturday celebrated the christening of the North Carolina, the nation's newest fast-attack submarine. "May God bless her and all who sail in her," said ship sponsor Linda Bowman, a Navy wife for 38 years. She smashed a bottle of American sparkling wine on the bow's "breaker bar," splattering the bubbly on her face and down the front of her blue suit. Bowman pumped her fists over her head, laughed as she spotted herself dry with a towel and then exchanged a high-five with her husband, retired Adm. Frank L. "Skip" Bowman, the former director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion. Earlier, the morning's festive mood gave way to a solemn moment of silence for Monday's shooting victims at Virginia Tech. "We celebrate during a time of mourning and loss," said Mike Petters, president of shipbuilder Northrop Grumman Newport News, who called Monday's shootings a "senseless and horrific tragedy." More than 350 of the company's employees are Virginia Tech graduates. "It's a place where future shipbuilders are grown - some of the very best shipbuilders in the world," Petters said. During the ceremony, the current crew's 115 sailors stood in formation, outfitted in dress whites, with arms folded behind their backs. The North Carolina, estimated at $2.6 billion in 2005 dollars, is the fourth ship in the Navy's new Virginia-class of submarines. Northrop Grumman's Newport News sector is building the subs in a partnership with General Dynamics' Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. The two yards have moved closer to the Navy's target cost of $2 billion each. Navy officials who spoke Saturday applauded the shipbuilders and the new submarine's capabilities. "At her top speed, she will make less noise than most of our submarines do at 5 knots," said Vice Adm. John Donnelly, commander of Naval Submarine Forces. "Her firepower, stealth and ability are tailored perfectly to meet maritime challenges of the future." The nuclear-powered submarine is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to be named North Carolina. A handful of former crew members of the World War II-era battleship North Carolina, on display as a floating museum in Wilmington, N.C., attended the ceremony. "I'm happy to see them carrying on the proud name of the USS North Carolina," said Denny Jones, 80, of Jamestown, Ky., who served on the battleship from 1944- 46. The submarine, which is about 88 percent complete, will be launched into the James River on May 5 with a scheduled December delivery date to the Navy. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #10 Old Patriot: They would never get a hint of the submarine that nailed them. I gather the latest incarnation of the MK-48 torpedo puts the enemy in the same position as Sarah Connor. The best hope to save yourself is to beach your ship, then have the crew put on disguises and fan out over the countryside, taking odd jobs for room and board, and hope that it doesn't get all of you. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-04-24 22:18 |
| #9 Next year they plan to upgrade the indigenous rubber band propulsion system. |
| Posted by: john 2007-04-24 21:04 |
| #8 I bet the Iranian Super Subs™ look like a hydraulic fluid slick after 30 seconds of war |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-24 20:48 |
| #7 #6: "I wonder what these indigenous Iranian subs look like. An oil drum with a snorkel?" Wow, they've added a snorkel, gorb? Must be the 2007 upgrade. Their indigenous military-industrial |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-04-24 18:41 |
| #6 I wonder what these indigenous Iranian subs look like. An oil drum with a snorkel? |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-24 18:20 |
| #5 Too bad it's so expensive and second-class compared to the Iranian super-subs. That's usually what happens when you compare fantasy to reality, Bobby. Fantasy always wins in talk-talk, but reality usually wins in war-war. The Iranians are going to be sh$$$ing cement bricks when they actually run across one of these subs in a real wartime situation. Iranian submariners will never know what happened to them. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2007-04-24 18:00 |
| #4 Yep Bobby, the Virginias don't have the supercool Shinano Secret 19 Drivetrain. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-04-24 17:49 |
| #3 Wikipedia page for Virginia class submarines. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-24 16:13 |
| #2 Too bad it's so expensive and second-class compared to the Iranian super-subs. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2007-04-24 15:30 |
| #1 Cool. They're christening the Hawaii next month at Groton. A friend of mine has family on it and is going up for the christening. (She's a little pissed it's not being christened in Hawaii, where it's supposed to be stationed. ;-p) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-04-24 15:12 |