US Navy’s newest Virginia-class submarine USS Indiana (SSN 789) arrived at her new homeport of Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut, exactly a month after entering service.
The submarine was commissioned in Port Canaveral, Florida, on September 29, and arrived at Groton on October 29, after sailing up the Thames River.
Indiana now joins Submarine Squadron 4 for further training and crew tests.
The State of Indiana has a wide ranging manufacturing industry and many of the parts that went into building Indiana were originally made by companies located in its namesake state and assembled at the Huntington Ingalls Shipyard in Newport News, Virginia, where Indiana was built.
USS Indiana (SSN 789) is the third commissioned US Navy vessel to bear the Indiana name. It is the first not designed as a heavy battleship. USS Indiana (SSN 789) is the third ship to be named for the State of Indiana. The first was USS Indiana (BB 1), a battle ship that participated in the Spanish – American War. The keel for a planned Indiana (BB 50) was laid down in 1920, but construction was halted due to the terms of the Washington Treaty for Naval Limitation following World War I, and it was never commissioned. The second was USS Indiana (BB 58), a battle ship that fought in World War II and earned nine battle stars.
Indiana (SSN 789) is the 16th Virginia-class fast attack submarine and the sixth Virginia-class Block III submarine.