EVERETT—Rep. Rick Larsen, WA-02, today lauded the Navy’s decision to name a new Virginia-class submarine the USS Washington. The submarine (SSN 787) will be the third vessel to bear the name Washington for the state. Larsen, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, represents two Navy bases in the 2nd District: Naval Station Everett and Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.
“With the Puget Sound one of the Navy’s largest and most important homes for the fleet, the name USS Washington is a fitting homage to our state’s strong and time-honored legacy of service,” Larsen said. “It’s been more than 50 years since a Navy ship has borne the name Washington in honor of our state. I’m glad that will now change.
“Though coincidental, it is especially fitting that the USS Washington is designated the 787. From the Boeing Everett Factory to the shipyards in Virginia where the Washington is now under construction, that number stands as a symbol of pride and of the strength of our state, our workers and our service members.”
The USS Washington will be 7,800-tons and 377 feet long. It will be able to operate at more than 25 knots submerged. It is designed with a reactor plant that will not require refueling during the planned life of the ship, reducing lifecycle costs while increasing underway time. Construction began on the submarine in September 2011.
The first two vessels to bear the name USS Washington in honor of the state were a Tennessee-class armored cruiser (ACR-11) launched in 1905. She was renamed USS Seattle in 1916 and retired in 1946.
The second was a 35,000-ton North Carolina class battleship (BB-56), launched in 1941 and scrapped in 1961. That USS Washington conducted wartime operations in the Atlantic and in the South Pacific, including in the Battle of Guadalcanal, the invasions of the Gilbert Islands and the Marshalls, and the Battle of the Philippine Sea. She later took part in operations to capture the Palaus, Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Her final active duty was to transport veteran servicemen home from Europe. USS Washington was placed out of commission in June 1947 and was in “mothballs” from then until May 1961, when she was sold for scrapping.
