Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced on April 28, 2022 that Virginia-class submarine USS New Jersey (SSN-796) was recently launched into the James River at the company’s Newport News Shipbuilding division.
The 7,800-ton submarine, which had been in a floating dry dock since being transferred from a construction facility in March, was submerged and moved by tugboats to the shipyard’s submarine pier for final outfitting, testing and crew certification.
«Achieving this construction milestone is a very rewarding event to our shipbuilding team», said Jason Ward, Newport News’ vice president of Virginia-class submarine construction. «Our shipbuilders and suppliers have dedicated years of hard work to this critical capability that will maintain our customer’s undersea superiority. We now look forward to executing our waterborne test program, and working toward sea trials so we can deliver to the Navy».
Through the teaming agreement with General Dynamics Electric Boat, approximately 10,000 shipbuilders, as well as suppliers from 50 states, have participated in New Jersey’s construction since the work began in 2016. New Jersey is approximately 92% complete.
Virginia-class submarines, a class of nuclear-powered fast attack submarines, are built for a broad spectrum of open-ocean and littoral missions to replace the Navy’s Los Angeles-class submarines as they are retired. Virginia-class submarines incorporate dozens of new technologies and innovations that increase firepower, maneuverability and stealth to significantly enhance their warfighting capabilities. These submarines are capable of supporting multiple mission areas and can operate at speeds of more than 25 knots/28 mph/46.3 km/h for months at a time.
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 IV
| Ship | Yard | Christening | Commissioned | Homeport |
| SSN-792 Vermont | EB | 10-20-18 | 04-18-20 | Groton, Connecticut |
| SSN-793 Oregon | EB | 10-05-19 | ||
| SSN-794 Montana | NNS | 09-12-20 | ||
| SSN-795 Hyman G. Rickover | EB | 07-31-21 | ||
| SSN-796 New Jersey | NNS | 11-13-21 | ||
| SSN-797 Iowa | EB | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-798 Massachusetts | NNS | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-799 Idaho | EB | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-800 Arkansas | NNS | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-801 Utah | EB | Under Construction |
