August 2011 - Navy
LT Jennifer Cragg , USN
Submarine Group Two PAO
With PCU California’s (SSN 781)
commissioning rapidly approaching,
the U.S. Navy’s newest submarine’s
historical ties between its namesake
state and the history of the Submarine Force remain
strong.
Nearly 111 years ago, the U.S. Navy commissioned
USS Holland (SS 1), formerly Holland VI, on 12 Oct.
1900. When the U.S. Navy purchased Holland VI from
John P. Holland in April 1900, it marked the official
birth date of the U.S. Submarine Force. Like the
submarine predecessors of the past, California’s
commissioning ties not only a submarine force but
also reminds us of our historical ties with its namesake
state.
“By 1901, Mare Island Naval Shipyard near Vallejo,
CA, had been contracted by Holland Torpedo Boat
Company to build USS Grampus and USS Pike which
became the first submarines built on the West Coast,”
said Bill Huesmann, Director of the Commissioning
Support Team.... “By World War II, Mare Island
would find itself the West Coast’s premier submarine
homeport, and during peak production would employ
over 50,000 Californians.”
“In 1957, came the building of Mare Island’s first
nuclear submarine, USS Sargo and, in 1959, her first
ballistic submarine, USS Theodore Roosevelt. By 1965,
Mare Island would launch the deep submergence
bathyscaphe Trieste II,” he added.
Today’s U.S. submarines are built by General
Dynamics Electric Boat and Huntington Ingalls
Industries – Newport News and ship commissioning
ceremonies remain one of the most significant days in
the life of a Navy warship. Since the commissioning
of the Navy’s first captured schooner in 1775, this
ceremony remains a powerful moment – it is this
point at which warships enter service to the Nation,
join the Fleet, and become sovereign U.S. territories
anywhere their operations may take them.
Once delivered to the Navy later this year,
California – the eighth boat of the Virginia Class –
will be the most modern and sophisticated attack
submarine in the world, providing undersea supremacy
well into the 21st century.
California was christened at Huntington Ingalls’
Industries Newport News Shipbuilding (formerly
Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding), in Newport News,
VA on 6 Nov. 2010, with California state officials and
California members of the Navy League of the United
States Santa Barbara Council, in attendance.
California is scheduled to commission in Norfolk
on 29 Oct. 2011, supported by Navy League of the
United States councils within California and locally
by Navy League of the United States’ Hampton Roads
Council.
Once California is commissioned it will become
the seventh U.S. Navy ship – and the first submarine –
to bear the name of the great state of California. The
first U.S. warship named California was a screw sloop
built in 1867. The most recent was a nuclear-powered
guided missile cruiser (CGN 36) that was in service
from February 1974 to July 1999. The most famous
USS California was the Tennessee-Class battleship
(BB 44) that was built at Mare Island and was sunk
in the attack on Pearl Harbor. The ship was salvaged,
reconstructed, and served again for the remainder of
World War II before being decommissioned in 1947.
The ship’s bell is on display in Sacramento, near the
California State Capitol.
Rear Admiral (Ret) Bonnie Potter of the Navy
League of the United States’ Central Pacific Region
has assisted with California’s commissioning process.
Prior to her retirement from the Navy, she was the
first female physician in the Navy Medical Corps to be
selected for flag rank. She served as the Commanding
Officer of the National Naval Medical Center at
Bethesda, MD, and Chief of the Navy Medical Corps.
“The Navy League of the United States has a long
history of partnering with the U.S. Navy and U.S.
Coast Guard in the planning and execution of
commissioning ceremonies,” said Potter. “As a native
of the Golden State, I am honored to be facilitating
the involvement of the various organizations within
California that are proudly supporting the commissioning
of the submarine named for our great state.”
The submarine is currently conducting sea trials,
an aggressive series of operational tests that demonstrate
the submarine’s capabilities, which are slated
to be completed later in July. The initial, or Alpha, sea
trials were successfully completed on 2 July.
The boat’s construction began 15 Feb. 2006, and the
keel was laid during a ceremony held 2 May 2009.
Future USS CALIFORNIA successfully passes sea trials, on track for fall commissioning
By Alan Baribeau
The future USS California (SSN 781), returned
to Newport News, VA, 2 July, having successfully
completed its initial, or Alpha, sea trials. Testing
evolutions completed during Alpha sea trials included
diving to test depth, conducting an emergency
surfacing, and testing the submarine’s propulsion
plant designed to evaluate the boat’s seaworthiness
and operational performance. California, the Navy’s
newest Virginia-class submarine, is commanded by
Clinton, CT, native CDR Dana Nelson.
“California’s outstanding performance during Alpha
trials is a testament to the quality of the design, the
talent of the shipbuilding team, and the hard work of
CDR Nelson and his crew in getting the ship to this
point,” said Rear Admiral (Sel) Michael Jabaley,
Virginia-class program manager. Delivering this boat
early will provide another much-needed asset to the
Fleet ahead of schedule.
The eighth boat of the Virginia class, California is on
track to deliver nine months early to the Fleet. All
Virginia-class submarines currently under construction
are scheduled to deliver early to their original contract
delivery dates.
California will next undergo Bravo sea trials and the
Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey trials which will
commence later in July. Built under a unique teaming
agreement by General Dynamics Electric Boat and
Huntington Ingalls-Newport News, the submarine will
be commissioned this fall in Norfolk, VA.
“The partnership between our shipbuilders and our
Navy team has been a key factor in the Virginia class’
success,” said Program Executive Officer Submarines
Rear Admiral David Johnson. The team’s efforts are
paying great dividends to the Fleet and will allow the
U.S. Submarine Force to continue to operate without peer.
Virginia-class submarines are designed to dominate
the world’s littoral and deep waters while conducting
Anti-Submarine; Anti-Surface Ship; Strike; Special
Operation Forces; Intelligence, Surveillance, and
Reconnaissance; Irregular Warfare; and Mine Warfare
missions. Their inherent stealth, endurance, firepower,
and sensor suite directly enable them to support five of
the six Maritime Strategy Core Capabilities – Sea
Control, Power Projection, Forward Presence, Maritime
Security, and Deterrence.