The sixth
Virginia-class submarine, PCU New Mexico (SSN 779)
will be christened at 1000 EST Saturday at Northrop Grumann Shipyard in Newport News, VA. A live webcast of the event will be broadcast
at this link. Here's the New Mexico Council of the Navy League's
boat page, and
here's an earlier post I had about the competition to design the ship's crest; a follow-on post about the winning design is
here, and the symbolism is discussed
here. And last but not least,
here's a picture of the star of Saturday's show taken in May just after she passed the "Pressure Hull Complete" milestone:
One of my old shipmates is the Nav on the boat; I certainly hope that he and the rest of the officers and crew enjoy the ceremony and shipyard-provided food.
Update 1746 13 Dec 08: A couple of photos of the Christening ceremony can be found
here and
here. I also liked the photos accompanying
this article from the
Virginian-Pilot about the preparations for the ceremony;
this one, showing the covered-up propulsor and the dihedrals, is especially good for those of you who haven't seen what the aft control surfaces look like on the newer submariners.
One of my old shipmates is the Nav on the boat; I certainly hope that he and the rest of the officers and crew enjoy the ceremony and shipyard-provided food.
