Keel-Laying for Columbia SSBN Set for June 4 

An artist’s rendering of the future U.S. Navy Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines. U.S. NAVY

WASHINGTON — The keel-laying ceremony for the first new-generation nuclear-powered ballistic-missile submarine (SSBN) will take place June 4. 

The keel-laying date for the future USS Columbia (SSBN 826) was mentioned by Rep. Joe Courtney, D-Connecticut, during a May 18 hearing of the Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee. The ceremonies will be held at the General Dynamics Electric Boat Shipyard at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. 

The date was announced to employees of Electric Boat the same morning. The missile compartment and other components are built at Quonset Point. Final assembly of the submarine will take place at the Electric Boat facility in Groton, Connecticut. 

HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, builds 22% of the submarine, including the bow and stern.  

General Dynamics Electric Boat was awarded a $5.1 billion contract in September 2017 to complete the design of the lead boat and in November 2020, the company received a nearly $9.5 billion award for construction and test of the USS Columbia and lead work on the USS Wisconsin. Including the Columbia, hull numbers SSBN 826 through 837 have been reserved for the new class, which previously was known as the Ohio-class Replacement Program. 

The Columbia design features a new reactor with a core designed to last the life of the boat. The Columbia class also will feature an X-stern plane configuration with a waterjet propulsor, electric drive and integrated power system, a six-mast sail with sail planes and a large-aperture bow sonar. The subs will retain the Trident D5LE missile system.

Advance construction of the Columbia began in 2019 and delivery is expected in 2027. The first Columbia SSBN is scheduled to be on patrol in fiscal 2031 to maintain the undersea leg of the nation’s nuclear deterrent force.  

The Columbia class is to completely replace Ohio class SSBNs by 2039. 

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Richard R. Burgess, Senior Editor