U.S. Navy Secretary to Host USS Illinois Naming Ceremony

WASHINGTON (NNS) — Sec­re­tary of the Navy Ray Mabus will host a ship nam­ing cer­e­mo­ny in hon­or of USS Illi­nois, June 22, at 2 p.m. CDT at the Navy Pier, 600 East Grand Avenue, Chica­go, Ill.

An artist ren­der­ing of the Vir­ginia-class sub­ma­rine USS Illi­nois (SSN 786). (U.S. Navy pho­to illus­tra­tion by Stan Bailey/Released) Click to enlarge

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Illi­nois, a Vir­ginia-class sub­ma­rine des­ig­nat­ed SSN 786, is the sec­ond Navy ves­sel to bear the “Prairie State’s” name. The pre­vi­ous Illi­nois, a bat­tle­ship (BB 7), cir­cum­nav­i­gat­ed the globe as part of the Great White Fleet (1908–1909). Illi­nois is home to the Navy’s one and only Recruit Train­ing Com­mand in Great Lakes where every enlist­ed Sailor begins his or her service. 

This next-gen­er­a­tion attack sub­ma­rine will pro­vide the Navy with the capa­bil­i­ties required to main­tain the nation’s under­sea suprema­cy well into the 21st cen­tu­ry. Vir­ginia-class sub­marines will have enhanced stealth, sophis­ti­cat­ed sur­veil­lance capa­bil­i­ties, and spe­cial war­fare enhance­ments that will enable them to meet the Navy’s mul­ti-mis­sion requirements. 

The future USS Illi­nois will have the capa­bil­i­ty to attack tar­gets ashore with high­ly accu­rate Tom­a­hawk cruise mis­siles and con­duct covert long-term sur­veil­lance of land area, lit­toral waters or oth­er sea-based forces. Oth­er mis­sions include anti-sub­ma­rine and anti-ship war­fare; mine deliv­ery and mine­field map­ping. It is also designed for spe­cial forces deliv­ery and support. 

SSN 786 will be built at Elec­tric Boat in Gro­ton, Conn, will be 7,800-tons and 377 feet in length, have a beam of 34 feet, and oper­ate at more than 25 knots sub­merged. It is designed with a reac­tor plant that will not require refu­el­ing dur­ing the planned life of the ship, reduc­ing life­cy­cle costs while increas­ing under­way time. Vir­ginia-class sub­marines are built under a unique team­ing arrange­ment between Gen­er­al Dynam­ics Elec­tric Boat and Hunt­ing­ton Ingalls Indus­tries-New­port News. 

Source:
U.S. Navy