USS Minnesota (SSN-783) is a fast attack submarine, the 10th of the planned 48-boat Virginia-class. It is the second United States Navy vessel named for the state of Minnesota, the third to bear the name, and the first since 1921.
History
Minnesota was laid down on 20 May 2011, and christened on 27 October 2012 in a ceremony attended by many top ranking officials in the U.S. Navy and Congress. On 6 June 2013, Huntington Ingalls Industries announced that Minnesota had been delivered to the Navy, nearly 11 months ahead of schedule. Minnesota was commissioned on 7 September 2013.
After commissioning, Minnesota remained at the General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyards in Groton, CT for over two years. A broken pipe joint was discovered in the vessel's nuclear reactor. The pipe had been tampered with in order to make the part appear within specifications. Although a failure of the pipe would not result in a reactor incident, it would affect the reactor's ability to produce steam used for propulsion. The same issue has been discovered on two other boats in the class. A Navy investigation determined that two other ships had the same issue, and the U.S. Justice Department commenced an investigation of the contractor responsible for the defective parts.
On 27 May 2016, Minnesota left the Electric Boat shipyards for its home port, the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, CT, to prepare for fleet operations.
References
- This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
External links
- http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=60527
- Commander, Submarine Group 2's web page re the USS Minnesota (SSN-783)
- Huntington Ingalls' web page re the Minnesota.
- www.ussminnesota.org
- ussminnesotassn783.com
- Facebook page for the PCU Minnesota SSN-783
