The U.S. Navy officially welcomed its newest warship into service this weekend, while it sat in Boston Harbor next to the Navy’s oldest operating warship.
On Saturday the Navy commissioned the USS Massachusetts (SSN 798), a new Virginia-class fast-attack submarine. The submarine was in the harbor next to the wooden USS Constitution on the sunny day as the Massachusetts’ crew, sponsor Sheryl Sandberg and military and elected officials held a ceremony formally welcoming the ship into service.
The Massachusetts is the latest Virginia-class sub to be commissioned, following the USS Iowa last spring; the submarines have been named after American states.
“To the crew, the plankowners, the Iron Patriots of the USS Massachusetts, we did it,” Cmdr. Michael Siedsma, the submarine’s commander, said on Saturday. “Your hard work and unshakable dedication is evident.”
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It’s the eighth ship named for the state, counting two that were part of the now-defunct Revenue-Marine, and the first submarine to be called the Massachusetts. The rest were steamers and battleships operated by the U.S. Navy that saw action in American wars in the 19th century and two world wars. The Navy’s first two Massachusetts ships were steamers that respectively saw action in the Mexican-American War and the American Civil War. The first battleship with that name was an Indiana-class one deployed during the Spanish-American War but repeatedly plagued by problems. One USS Massachusetts was a minelayer that was only briefly was called, for roughly a month, before being renamed and took part in World War I.
The most recent ship to bear the name was a South Dakota-class battleship that saw action in World War II. After a deployment to North African waters as part of Operation Torch, the Massachusetts went to the Pacific Theater, where it ended up participating in some of the most important campaigns of the war. The battleship was part of the American fleets fighting during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns as well as the battle for the Philippines. It would go on to fight in the battle for Okinawa in 1945. It currently serves as a museum ship.
As for the new USS Massachusetts, it’s 377-feet long and carries a crew of roughly 150 submariners. As with other Virginia-class vessels, it is a nuclear-powered fast-attack submarine designed for stealth and surveillance, and can carry out operations against underwater and surface-level targets and launch strikes against land-based enemies as well. Alongside an arsenal of torpedoes it is capable of firing Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles.
It’s not clear what the new submarine’s first mission will be. The Associated Press asked Siedsma about what the Massachusetts will be doing next, but he did not say.
