Members of Congress, U.S. Navy brass and submarine manufacturing workers on Saturday celebrated the start of construction on the U.S. Navy’s next-generation Columbia-class nuclear ballistic submarine.
General Dynamics Electric Boat, the Connecticut- and Rhode Island-based manufacturer, organized a symbolic keel-laying ceremony, reminiscent of early shipbuilding when the central timber, the backbone of a ship, was put in place, marking the start of construction. The future USS District of Columbia was the focus of the gathering at Electric Boat’s Quonset Point, R.I., shipyard.
The Columbia is a top priority of the Navy’s and represents a “critical piece of the U.S. nuclear deterrence and national security strategy,” said Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2, and chairman of a House Armed Services subcommittee. It will replace 14 Ohio-class submarines due to begin to retire from service in 2027 following a more than 40-year run.
The District of Columbia is the first ship in the new class of ballistic missile submarines being built for the U.S. Navy by Electric Boat.
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Washington, D.C.’s representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, reminded the audience that Washington, D.C., does not have voting representation in the House and no senators represent the district’s more than 700,000 residents.
She said she was informed by the Navy in 2016 the Columbia would recognize residents of the District of Columbia “with this great honor and in particular our service members and veterans who have fought in every American war since our nation’s founding, all without voting representation in Congress.”
“It is fitting that it recognizes the jurisdiction that will become the 51st state of the United States of America,” Norton said to applause.
She later signed her initials that were welded onto a ceremonial plate.
U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the Quonset Point and Groton shipyards have grown over the past 30 years into “massive complexes.” A 200,000 square foot assembly building is going up at the Groton shipyard as part of an $850 million expansion to accommodate a significant increase in construction related to the Columbia and Virginia-class submarines.
Electric Boat can’t hire fast enough. It said in January it plans to hire more than 3,000 workers this year, a 20% increase over 2021 as U.S. military strategy faces rising threats in the North Atlantic from Russia and the South Pacific from China.
At 560 feet and displacing 20,810 tons, the District of Columbia will be the largest submarine ever built by the U.S., Electric Boat said. Its reactor will not require refueling during the lifetime of planned service, maximizing its time on deployment. In addition to the missiles the District of Columbia will carry, it will be armed with Mk 48 torpedoes and feature superior acoustic performance and state-of-the-art sensors to make it the most capable and quiet submarine ever built, according to Electric Boat.
The Navy’s fiscal year 2023 budget estimates the total cost of a 12-ship class of Columbia at $112.7 billion, according to an April report by the Congressional Research Service.
The research agency identified several risks, including a a delay in designing and building the lead Columbia-class boat that could jeopardize the Navy’s ability to have it ready for its first scheduled patrol in 2031, cost increases that could have an impact on funding of other Navy programs and potential supplier challenges related to building Columbia-class and Virginia-class submarines at the same time.
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