The commanding officer and several Sailors assigned to Virginia-class attack submarine USS New Hampshire (SSN 778) presented the namesake flag flown over the Arctic to New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch July 29.
“You are doing a wonderful job and keep up the great work,” said Lynch . “I’m proud that New Hampshire is attached to what you have done.”
During their visit to New Hampshire, New Hamphire Commanding Officer Cmdr. John McGunnigle also met with members of the New Hampshire Commissioning Committee. He also visited with Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Commander Capt. L. Bryant Fuller III and presented each group a namesake flag.
In a similar token to his New England roots, McGunnigle and members of his crew attended a Boston Red Sox game on July 27 to present a name sake flag to be flown during the game.
“The namesake state flag carries with it significance in that it was flown during USS New Hampshire’s participation in Ice Exercise (ICEX) 2011 earlier this year,” said McGunnigle.
USS New Hampshire was the first Virginia-class submarine to participate in an ICEX. Seawolf-class submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) also participated in the exercises in the Arctic Ocean.
“It’s a privilege to serve this great nation and to share a part of history with our name sakestate, the shipyard where our boat was commissioned, and commissioning committee,” said McGunnigle.
New Hampshire was commissioned at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, Oct. 25, 2008. She is the third ship to be named for the state of New Hampshire.
[mappress] Source: navy, July 31, 2011;