The U.S. Navy welcomed a new USS Iowa into its service this weekend. The new nuclear submarine, SSN-797, was commissioned on Saturday, April 5, not in Iowa, but at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.
The commissioning ceremony — with cold and dreary weather, as many speakers noted — included its captain, Cmdr. Gregory Coy, and Secretary of the Navy John Phelan, among others. Saturday’s event was Phelan’s first commissioning as secretary. Despite the poor weather, the speakers were cheerful and praised the crews that built the submarine and the submariners that will crew it.
The USS Iowa is the fourth Navy vessel to be named for the state, and the first to be a submarine. The first three were all battleships; the first served during the Spanish-American War, while the second was never completed. The third and most famous, the lead ship of the Iowa-class battleships, served during World War II, fighting extensively in the Pacific Theater, and the Korean War, before being decommissioned in 1990. During its service the ship gained the nickname the “Gray Ghost.” It’s currently part of a maritime museum.
Adm. Daryl Caudle, head of the U.S. Navy’s Fleet Forces Command noted the history behind the name.
“It just feels natural for us to have a warship named Iowa back on the Navy register. For decades the name Iowa reigned supreme amongst the high seas, bestowed upon the most powerful class of battleships of its time,” Caudle said.
The USS Iowa is the 24th Virginia-class fast-attack submarine. The Navy describes them as being “designed to excel in anti-submarine warfare, anti-ship warfare, strike warfare, special operations, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare and mine warfare.” The Navy also noted that due to its reactor, it is not expected to need refueling during its service, which will help with its ability to operate on missions.
The submarine was laid down in 2019 and delivered to the Navy last year, where it underwent sea trials ahead of entering Navy service. The USS Iowa is a 377-foot-long vessel armed with several torpedo tubes and Tomahawk cruise missiles. In his remarks, Phelan emphasized the firepower carried by the submarine and how it fits into naval strategy in the modern era, saying that it’s “not just about strength; it’s about deterrence.”
The USS Iowa will serve as part of Submarine Squadron 4, According to Coy, the submarine will have its first deployment in November of this year.
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