NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - The Navy accepted delivery of
PCU John Warner (SSN 785), the 12th submarine of the Virginia Class, June 25.
John Warner is the second of eight Virginia Class Block
III ships and the sixth to be delivered to the U.S. Navy by Newport News
Shipbuilding.
The submarine is named after John Warner, the five-term
U.S. Senator from Virginia who served in both the Navy and Marine Corps, and
was Secretary of the Navy from 1972 to 1974. His wife, Jeanne Warner, is the
ship's sponsor.
"Like the ship before her, USS North Dakota, John
Warner delivered ahead of schedule and within budget," said Rear Adm.
David C. Johnson, Program Executive Officer for Submarines. "The crew of
John Warner has upheld the standard of excellence in the Virginia Class
program."
John Warner successfully completed the Navy's Board of
Inspection and Survey (INSURV) trials, which evaluate the submarine's
seaworthiness and operational capabilities, June 12. During the trials, the
crew took the submarine to test depth, tested the submarine's propulsion plant
and material readiness resulting in the highest INSURV score of the Virginia
class submarines. John Warner will spend the upcoming weeks preparing for its
Aug. 1 commissioning in Norfolk, Virginia.
Block III submarines feature a redesigned bow, which
replaces 12 individual launch tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload
Tubes each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles, among other
design changes that reduced the submarines' acquisition cost while maintaining
their outstanding warfighting capabilities.
Virginia-class submarines are built 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.
Team Submarine oversees the submarine force's
research, development, acquisition, maintenance and life cycle support.