The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the future USS South Dakota (SSN-790), the 17th submarine of the Virginia class, September 24.

The ship began construction in 2013 and is scheduled to commission in early 2019. This next-generation attack submarine provides the U.S. Navy with the capabilities required to maintain the nation’s undersea superiority.

USS South Dakota (SSN-790) is the seventh Virginia-class Block III submarine. Block III submarines feature a redesigned bow with enhanced payload capabilities, replacing 12 individual vertical launch tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching six Tomahawk cruise missiles. This, among other design changes, reduced the submarines’ acquisition cost while maintaining their outstanding warfighting capabilities.

«South Dakota’s delivery is an important milestone», said Captain Chris Hanson, Virginia Class Program manager. «It marks the penultimate Block III delivery and will be a vital asset in the hands of the fleet».

The submarine’s sponsor is Deanie Dempsey, wife of former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman and retired Army General Martin Dempsey.

The submarine will be the third U.S. Navy ship to be commissioned with the name South Dakota. The first South Dakota (ACR-9) was a Pennsylvania-class armored cruiser. The ship served in the Pacific until the American entry into World War I, where it patrolled the South Atlantic operating from Brazil, and escorted troop transports destined for Europe.

During World War II, the second South Dakota (BB-57) was commissioned as the lead ship in its class. The four ships of the South Dakota class are considered the most efficient battleships built under the limitations of the Washington Naval treaty. South Dakota served in the Pacific and Atlantic as a carrier escort and patrolled the North Atlantic with the British navy. During the ship’s second tour in the Pacific, it helped to cripple the Japanese navy during the Battle of the Philippine Sea before helping to bombard shore defenses at Okinawa and preparing for an eventual invasion of the Japanese home islands.

Virginia-class submarines are built to operate in the world’s littoral and deep waters while conducting anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface ship warfare; strike warfare; special operations forces support; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; irregular warfare and mine warfare missions. Their inherent stealth, endurance, mobility and firepower directly enable them to support five of the six maritime strategy core capabilities – sea control, power projection, forward presence, maritime security and deterrence.

 

General Characteristics

Builder	General Dynamics Electric Boat Division and Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. – Newport News Shipbuilding
Date Deployed	October 3, 2004
Propulsion	One GE PWR S9G* nuclear reactor, two turbines, one shaft; 40,000 hp/30 MW
Length	377 feet/114.8 m
Beam	33 feet/10.0584 m
Hull Diameter	34 feet/10.3632 m
Displacement	Approximately 7,800 tons/7,925 metric tons submerged
Speed	25+ knots/28+ mph/46.3+ km/h
Diving Depth	800+ feet/244+ m
Crew	132: 15 officers; 117 enlisted
Armament: Tomahawk missiles	Two 87-in/2.2 m Virginia Payload Tubes (VPTs), each capable of launching 6 Tomahawk cruise missiles
Armament: MK-48 ADCAP (Advanced Capability) Mod 7 heavyweight torpedoes	4 torpedo tubes
Weapons	MK-60 CAPTOR (Encapsulated Torpedo) mines, advanced mobile mines and UUVs (Unmanned Underwater Vehicles)

* – Knolls Atomic Power Laboratories

 

Nuclear Submarine Lineup

 

Block III

Ship	Yard	Christening	Commissioned	Homeport
SSN-784 North Dakota	EB	11-2-13	10-25-14	Groton, Connecticut
SSN-785 John Warner	NNS	09-06-14	08-01-15	Norfolk, Virginia
SSN-786 Illinois	EB	10-10-15	10-29-16	Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
SSN-787 Washington	NNS	03-05-16	10-07-17	Norfolk, Virginia
SSN-788 Colorado	EB	12-03-16	03-17-18	Groton, Connecticut
SSN-789 Indiana	NNS	04-29-17
SSN-790 South Dakota	EB	10-14-17
SSN-791 Delaware	NNS	Under Construction