Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Raleigh (NC) News-Observer
May 2, 2008 By Richard Stradling, Staff Writer
The USS North Carolina, the Navy’s newest nuclear-powered submarine, will be commissioned Saturday during a ceremony in Wilmington.
The sub, built in Virginia, will be the fourth Navy vessel to carry the North Carolina name. It also will be the fourth in a new class of submarines designed for warfare after the Cold War, when the primary adversary was the Soviet Union.
About 5,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony at a North Carolina State Ports dock on the Cape Fear River, just down river from the World War II battleship USS North Carolina. The battleship, now a major tourist attraction, was the last Navy vessel named for the state.
Navy Secretary Donald Winter will deliver the main address, while Linda Bowman, wife of retired Admiral Frank L. "Skip" Bowman, will follow Navy tradition by giving the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life.”
The ceremony is not open to the public.
Navy Secretary Richard Danzig named the submarine in 2000 after reviewing requests from citizens, veterans and state representatives, according to a Navy spokesman. Construction, done jointly by Northrop Grumman Newport News and General Dynamics Electric Boat, began in October 2001, and the sub was lowered into the water for the first time last May.
The crew of about 135 officers and enlisted men officially moved aboard last November, before a series of sea trials that were completed in February.
The USS North Carolina is 377 feet long and weighs 7,800 tons. The Navy says it cost about $2.5 billion. The sub will carry some of the military's newest gadgets and be able to attack with missiles, torpedoes and mines or skulk silently to snoop or drop off special operations teams.
The Navy says the new class of submarines are needed to meet its missions, though some defense analysts question the need for expensive, sophisticated subs when terrorism is the nation's primary danger.
After its commissioning, the USS North Carolina will travel to Norfolk, then on to its home port of Groton, Conn., according to a Navy spokesman.
May 2, 2008 By Richard Stradling, Staff Writer
The USS North Carolina, the Navy’s newest nuclear-powered submarine, will be commissioned Saturday during a ceremony in Wilmington.
The sub, built in Virginia, will be the fourth Navy vessel to carry the North Carolina name. It also will be the fourth in a new class of submarines designed for warfare after the Cold War, when the primary adversary was the Soviet Union.
About 5,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony at a North Carolina State Ports dock on the Cape Fear River, just down river from the World War II battleship USS North Carolina. The battleship, now a major tourist attraction, was the last Navy vessel named for the state.
Navy Secretary Donald Winter will deliver the main address, while Linda Bowman, wife of retired Admiral Frank L. "Skip" Bowman, will follow Navy tradition by giving the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life.”
The ceremony is not open to the public.
Navy Secretary Richard Danzig named the submarine in 2000 after reviewing requests from citizens, veterans and state representatives, according to a Navy spokesman. Construction, done jointly by Northrop Grumman Newport News and General Dynamics Electric Boat, began in October 2001, and the sub was lowered into the water for the first time last May.
The crew of about 135 officers and enlisted men officially moved aboard last November, before a series of sea trials that were completed in February.
The USS North Carolina is 377 feet long and weighs 7,800 tons. The Navy says it cost about $2.5 billion. The sub will carry some of the military's newest gadgets and be able to attack with missiles, torpedoes and mines or skulk silently to snoop or drop off special operations teams.
The Navy says the new class of submarines are needed to meet its missions, though some defense analysts question the need for expensive, sophisticated subs when terrorism is the nation's primary danger.
After its commissioning, the USS North Carolina will travel to Norfolk, then on to its home port of Groton, Conn., according to a Navy spokesman.