Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced the successful completion of the initial sea trials Friday of fast-attack submarine Montana (SSN 794). The Virginia-class submarine, built at HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding division, spent several days at sea to test the ship’s systems and components. Testing included submerging the submarine for the first time and high-speed maneuvers while on the surface and submerged. HII teams will continue the testing program and will deliver the boat to the U.S. Navy later this year.
“We are very proud to say the Montana and her crew performed exceptional,” said Jason Ward, Newport News Shipbuilding vice president of Virginia-class submarine construction. “Taking the ship to sea for the first time is a huge milestone for everyone involved. The crew, thousands of suppliers from around the country and shipbuilders from HII and Electric Boat can be proud the ship was successfully brought to life and will soon be part of the world’s greatest Navy.”
Montana (SSN-794) is a Virginia-class submarine of the United States Navy. A contract modification for USS Oregon (SSN-793), Montana (SSN-794), and USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-795) was initially awarded to General Dynamics Electric Boat for $594.7 million in April 2012. On 23 December 2014, they were awarded an additional $121.8 million contract modification to buy long lead-time material for the three Virginia-class submarines. The U.S. Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat the contract to construct 10 Block IV Virginia-class submarines for $17.6 billion on 28 April 2014. The tenth boat is scheduled for delivery in 2023.
She will honor the U.S. State of Montana. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the name on 3 September 2015 at a ceremony hosted in Billings, Montana with U.S. Senator Jon Tester. She will be only the second commissioned warship to bear the name. Construction of Montana began in May 2015 at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Contract completion date was expected to be in May 2020, but this was delayed because of the COVID pandemic. Despite the COVID pandemic, the virtual ceremony went well. Montana was rolled out on October 15, 2020 and will be delivered to the Navy by mid-2022. She was launched in February 2021.
