New Navy submarine will be named USS Iowa

The Navy’s newest Virginia Class attack submarine will be named the USS Iowa, honoring a military custom of having American warships with ties to Iowa, its communities and its military heroes.

Navy Secretary Ray Mabus plans to visit Ames Wednesday to make the announcement official at a news briefing at Iowa State University. He will be joined by Gov. Terry Branstad and ISU President Steven Leath.

“A ship’s naming is the first milestone in bringing it to life, and here continues the long tradition of strong connection between the people of Iowa and our Navy. It is also an opportunity to highlight our commitment to increasing Navy fleet size,” Mabus said in a column published Tuesday in the Des Moines Register.

The USS Iowa submarine (SSN-797) will be the fifth U.S. Navy vessel named in recognition of the 29th state. The fourth such vessel, the USS Iowa battleship (BB-61), saw service during World War II and the Korean War, was reactivated in the 1980s and was decommissioned in 1990. The ship is now a museum on the West Coast at the Port of Los Angeles.

The Virginia Class is considered the next-generation attack submarine, replacing Los Angeles Class submarines as they retire. The new USS Iowa submarine will be 377 feet long and 34 feet at its widest point, and will be able to dive to depths greater than 800 feet and operate at speeds in excess of 25 knots submerged. It will have the ability to operate for 33 years without ever refueling.

Mabus said that throughout history, American leaders across the political spectrum have understood the vital significance of sea power.

More than 80 percent of the world’s population lives within 60 miles of the sea; 90 percent of global trade goes by sea; and 95 percent of all voice and data transfer goes under the ocean. Some 40 million American jobs are directly linked to seaborne international trade.

“For seven decades, the presence of our Navy and Marine Corps has been the primary protector of maintaining open sea lanes and freedom of commerce,” the Navy secretary said.

The Virginia Class submarines are designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and surface ships; project power ashore with Tomahawk cruise missiles and special operation forces; carry out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions; support battle group operations; and engage in mine warfare, according to Navy officials.

The USS Iowa will be built under an agreement between General Dynamics Electric Boat (GDEB) and Huntington Ingalls Industries-Newport News Shipbuilding (HII-NNS) wherein both companies build certain portions of each submarine and then alternate deliveries, Navy officials said. The sub will be delivered by GDEB, located in Groton, Conn.

Many other Navy vessels have historically had ties to Iowa, including ships named after Des Moines, Dubuque, Burlington, Muscatine, Keokuk and Sioux City. USS The Sullivans, a guided missile destroyer still in active naval service, was named in honor of the five Sullivan brothers of Waterloo who died after their ship, the USS Juneau, was sunk during World War II in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

A keel-laying ceremony was held last year for the USS Sioux City, a Freedom-Class combat ship that remains under construction in Marinette, Wis.