Saturday, March 16, 2024, was a special day for the US Navy and the workers at General Dynamics Electric Boat as the latest Virginia-class fast-attack Submarine was christened at the Groton facility.
Local and national leaders were on hand for the event along with business leaders and Navy personnel to watch as the traditional champagne bottle wrapped in the nation’s flag was smashed against the hull of the new USS Idaho by its sponsor, Terry Stackley, whose father worked at Electric Boat in the 1960s and whose husband served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Ddevelopment and Acquisition from 2008 to 2017.
One of the keynote speakers at the event was US Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, who congratulated the entire Electric Boat team as well as their partners from Newport News and the soon-to-be Captain of the Idaho, Randall Leslie.
“I also want to particularly welcome Idaho Governor Brad Little and my colleague from the US House, Russ Fulcher,” Courtney said. “Their presence today underscores the strong political support for our Navy, not just in coastal states like Connecticut and Rhode Island, but also in their heartland state, which is home to the Idaho National Laboratory and the Navy’s Acoustic Research Detachment that are so critical to the success of America’s submarine enterprise.”
Courtney continued: “I’m sure Commander Leslie and his crew already know; Terry Stackley is the perfect sponsor for this boat. She has devoted her life to the US Navy, including over four decades, serving at duty stations coast to coast and overseas. It is also an honor to be with her husband, Sean, the former Assistant Secretary of the Navy who testified before the Seapower Subcommittee countless times over the years. It was on his watch in 2011 that Congress raised the procurement rate of the Virginia program from one to two submarines per year – a rate that has held steady for the last 13 years.”
Courtney commended Electric Boat and its President, Kevin Graney, on making history recently in their hiring efforts bringing in over 5,000 workers in 2023 with the same number of new hires expected again in 2024.
The focus on hiring is part of the effort to increase submarine production to meet the submarine numbers required by the US Navy.
Courtney referenced the recent AUKUS agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States through which the US will sell three nuclear submarines to a foreign nation for the first time in its history. Last week Courtney and U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy released public statements critical of the Biden administration’s FY25 budget, which not only cuts submarine production in Groton back to one per year, but also stops production of one nuclear submarine that’s already halfway built. Both Courtney and Murphy said the Navy should continue building two Virginia-class submarines per year to both meet the expectations of the AUKUS partnership as well as the goal of building enough submarine’s for the US fleet.
“In addition to today’s christening, last year, USS Iowa was christened on June 20th, and USS Rickover was commissioned in October. This year, the USS New Jersey is slated for delivery in September, and Iowa’s delivery is slated in December, and USS Massachusetts in early 2025,” Courtney said. “It’s true that COVID-related retirements and social distancing slowed production, but a new generation of shipbuilders is picking up the pace. With all of the challenges our nation and our allies, particularly our AUKUS ally Australia, face, now is not the time to falter in our commitment to keep this growing tempo on track.”
The Idaho will now undergo essential sea trials with its new crew and a full shakedown before commissioning for official duty later this year.
