Anna Forrester
The U.S. Navy‘s USS North Dakota submarine worked alongside three other Virginia-class submarines to deploy and retrieve unmanned underwater vehicles during a six-week tour in the Mediterranean Sea.
The service said Monday that North Dakota — built by General Dynamics‘ Electric Boat subsidiary — joined the USS Virginia, USS Hawaii and USS New Hampshire in its first-ever mission.
“It was a rare opportunity for the crew to be able to deploy prior to executing its post shakedown availability,” said Capt. Douglas Gordon, commanding officer of USS North Dakota.
Capt. Jim Waters, commander of Submarine Squadron 4, added that the mission also worked to demonstrate the use of UUVs in Submarine Force operations.
USS North Dakota is the first of eight Block III Virginia-class submarines and 11th in the overall Virginia-class submarine fleet.
According to the Navy, the Block III submarines are equipped with the Virginia Payload Tubes that are built to carry six Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles each.
