Brenda Marie Rivers
The U.S. Navy will christen two of its future Virginia-class attack submarines on Saturday at General Dynamics and Huntington Ingalls Industries locations.
The service branch will christen USS Vermont at a General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard in Groton, Conn., while USS Delaware will be christened at an HII Newport News Shipbuilding site in Newport News, Va., the Defense Department said Thursday.
Delaware, designated as SSN 791, is the eight and final submarine with a Virginia-class Block III configuration.
Vermont is designated as SSN 792 and is the first of 10 Virginia-class submarines with a Block IV configuration.
Phil Scott, governor of the state of Vermont, will be the principal speaker for SSN 792’s christening, while Sen. Tom Carper will speak at the christening of Delaware.
Construction of Vermont began in May 2014 following Delaware’s, which commenced in September 2013.
Both vessels are slated for delivery in 2019.
