Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced that the newest Virginia-class submarine (VCS), USS Washington (SSN-787), successfully completed its initial sea trials on Sunday. Sea trials test the submarine’s capabilities at sea. Washington was built as part of a teaming agreement between HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division and General Dynamics Electric Boat.
«The ship and its crew performed exceptionally well», said Matt Needy, Newport News’ vice president of submarines and fleet support. «It was truly an amazing process to see the hundreds of suppliers and the many thousands of shipbuilders from both Newport News and Electric Boat work closely with the ship’s crew to bring this great warship to life».
All systems, components and compartments were tested during the trials. The submarine submerged for the first time and operated at high speeds on the surface and underwater. Washington will undergo a round of acceptance trials before delivery to the Navy by Newport News.
Construction of Washington, which began in September 2011, marked the beginning of the VCS program’s two-submarines-per-year build plan for Newport News.
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/10.06 m |
| Hull Diameter | 34 feet/10.36 m |
| Displacement | Approximately 7,835 tons/7,961 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 | 12 individual VLS (Vertical Launch System) tubes or 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 I
| Ship | Yard | Christening | Commissioned | Homeport |
| SSN-774 Virginia | EB | 8-16-03 | 10-23-04 | Portsmouth, New Hampshire |
| SSN-775 Texas | NNS | 7-31-05 | 9-9-06 | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
| SSN-776 Hawaii | EB | 6-19-06 | 5-5-07 | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
| SSN-777 North Carolina | NNS | 4-21-07 | 5-3-08 | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
EB – Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut
NNS – Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia
SSN – Attack Submarine, Nuclear-powered
Block II
| Ship | Yard | Christening | Commissioned | Homeport |
| SSN-778 New Hampshire | EB | 6-21-08 | 10-25-08 | Groton, Connecticut |
| SSN-779 New Mexico | NNS | 12-13-08 | 11-21-09 | Groton, Connecticut |
| SSN-780 Missouri | EB | 12-5-09 | 7-31-10 | Groton, Connecticut |
| SSN-781 California | NNS | 11-6-10 | 10-29-11 | Groton, Connecticut |
| SSN-782 Mississippi | EB | 12-3-11 | 6-2-12 | Groton, Connecticut |
| SSN-783 Minnesota | NNS | 10-27-12 | 9-7-13 | Norfolk, Virginia |
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 | Groton, Connecticut |
| SSN-787 Washington | NNS | 03-05-16 | ||
| SSN-788 Colorado | EB | 12-03-16 | ||
| SSN-789 Indiana | NNS | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-790 South Dakota | EB | Under Construction | ||
| SSN-791 Delaware | NNS | Under Construction |
The Virginia-class submarine USS Washington (SSN-787) completed the initial sea trials in March 2017