Tag Archives: USS Vermont (SSN 792)

Shipyard News

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Lots of developments on the shipyard beat in the past week or so…

Welcome, Bob!

Saturday saw the christening at Bollinger Shipyards in Pascagoula (Escatawpa) of the future Pathfinder-class oceanographic survey vessel  USNS Robert Ballard (T-AGS 67), with the principal address delivered by the famed Dr. Robert Ballard (CDR, USNR, Ret), the ship’s namesake.

The 353-foot/5,000 ton AGS is equipped with just about every precision survey tool you can think of, and the class is vital in making hyper-accurate charts of the sea floor, something especially important for modern submarine warfare.

Speaking of which…

NoDak Undocks

The storied Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, last week  undocked the early Virginia-class attack submarine USS North Dakota (SSN 784), “marking a significant milestone in its maintenance and modernization availability.”

NoDak, commissioned in 2014, the first of eight Virginia-class Block III boats, has been under overhaul since April 2023. The work was scheduled to take 33 months and was cleared in just 34, which is great when it comes to SSN overhauls.

Virginia-class attack submarine USS North Dakota (SSN 784) undocking at Portsmouth, wrapping up a 34-month overhaul. (U.S. Navy photo by Branden Bourque)

Vermont wraps first SMP in Australia

In a quiet development from down under, the Virginia-class hunter killer USS Vermont (SSN 792) arrived at HMAS Stirling in Western Australia late last October and soon underwent something that is a first for both the class and the Royal Australian Navy– a four-month submarine maintenance period (SMP) by a blended American and Australian maintenance team without a sub tender alongside for support.

It’s the first time that was done outside of the U.S. and is an important milestone for the AUKUS SSN program, which will, eventually, see the RAN operating 774s.

Garden Island, HMAS Stirling, Western Australia, Australia (Nov. 10, 2025) – A bilateral team of U.S. Navy Sailors and civilians of the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard Dive Locker, and Australian members of Clearance Dive Team 4, dive under the hull of the USS Vermont (SSN 792) in support of a planned submarine maintenance period (SMP). The bilateral team completed multiple jobs, including installing patches under the hull to allow access to main ballast tank three. The maintenance period showcased Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard & Intermediate Maintenance Facility’s ability to conduct maintenance in Western Australia and its training of Australian maintainers to support the establishment of Submarine Rotational Force – West as early as 2027 as part of AUKUS Pillar I, the trilateral security agreement between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The AUKUS Integration & Acquisition Program Office is the U.S. Navy office responsible for executing the trilateral partnership to assist Australia in acquiring conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarines while setting the highest nuclear stewardship standards and continuing to maintain the highest nonproliferation standards. (U.S. Navy Photo by Cmdr. Erik Wells)

Austal finishes the last EPF, keeps up with EMS, and ATS

The vessel that got Austal’s Mobile, Alabama yard on the map, the 16-vessel Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, is wrapping up with the launching last week of the future USNS Lansing (EPF 16), capping a program that began in 2010.

The 337-foot vessels are big enough to land a CH-53K King Stallion on their aft deck and can schlep 412 troops around the theatre at 43 knots or, with a 20,000 sq ft mission bay, can fill a Swiss army knife of support roles– all with a crew of 41.

Austal says that, once delivered, the production efforts on EPF 16 will shift to final outfitting and system activation to support future USNS Bethesda (T-EMS-1), the first of three EPF Flight II medical variants, getting underway for sea trials. The white-painted EMS series will have four operating rooms and 124 medical beds, separated into acute care, acute isolation, ICU, and ICU isolation spaces.

Austal, in the same week, also successfully launched the future Navajo-class rescue and salvage ship USNS Solomon Atkinson (T-ATS 12) into the Mobile River, some 75 percent complete.

The future Navajo-class rescue and salvage ship USNS Solomon Atkinson (T-ATS 12)

The 263-foot/5,100-ton T-ATS will provide ocean-going towing, salvage, and rescue capabilities to support fleet operations. T-ATS will be a multi-mission common hull platform capable of towing U.S. Navy ships and will have 6,000 square feet of deck space for embarked systems. The large, unobstructed deck allows for the embarkation of a variety of stand-alone and interchangeable systems. The T-ATS platform will combine the capabilities of the retiring Rescue and Salvage Ship (T-ARS 50) and Fleet Ocean Tug (T-ATF 166) platforms. T-ATS will be able to support current missions, including towing, salvage, rescue, oil spill response, humanitarian assistance, and wide-area search and surveillance. The platform also enables future rapid capability initiatives, such as supporting modular payloads with hotel services and appropriate interfaces.

Vermont, heading out

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How about these epic shots via General Dynamics Electric Boat of the Block IV Virginia-class hunter killer USS Vermont (SSN-792) heading out from the Groton shipyard on sea trials on 6 May following her Post Shakedown Availability (PSA).

She is the 19th boat of the class and the third vessel of the Navy to be named for the U.S. state of Vermont, following in the wake of the Great White Fleet era Connecticut class battleship and an unfinished ship of the line authorized in 1816.

Green Mountain returns to the Naval List after 100-year hiatus

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Below we see USS Vermont, (Battleship # 20), giving her impression of a submarine while underway in heavy seas, circa 1907-1909, possibly during the famous cruise round-the-world sortie of the Great White Fleet.

From the album of Francis Sargent; Courtesy of Commander John Condon, 1986. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 101072

Two historic warships have been named in honor of the Green Mountain State, with the first being a 74-gun warship authorized by Congress in 1816, and the second the above-referenced Connecticut-class pre-dreadnought battleship (BB 20).
Decommissioned in June 1920 after 13 years of service which included not only the Great White Fleet cruise but also the Mexican intervention and the Great War, Battleship No. 20 was stricken and sold for scrap in November 1923 according to the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.
Now, after a century without a “Vermont” in the fleet, a brand-new Virginia-class attack submarine (SSN 792) was commissioned over the weekend.

On Friday, April 17, Electric Boat delivered Vermont (SSN 792) to the U.S. Navy. Vermont Ship’s manager Tanner Glantz (right) hand s the ceremonial ship’s key to Cmdr. Chas Phillips. (Photo: Electric Boat)

“This warship carries on a proud Vermont legacy in naval warfare and unyielding determination stretching back to the birth of our nation,” VADM Daryl Caudle, commander, Submarine Forces, said. “To her crew, congratulations on completing the arduous readiness training to enter sea trials and prepare this ship for battle. I am proud to serve with each of you! Stand ready to defend our nation wherever we are threatened – honoring your motto – FREEDOM AND UNITY. May God bless our Submarine Force, the people of Vermont, and our families! From the depths, we strike!”

Is it 1991 again?

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So three things happened over the weekend.

#1 & #2, the Navy christened two brand new Virginia-class SSN’s on the same day (Saturday) some 500 miles part when they broke bottles at Newport News for the future USS Delaware (SSN 791) at 10 a.m and at Groton for the future USS Vermont (SSN 792) at 11 a.m. Importantly, Delaware is the last of the Block III Virginia’s and Vermont is the first of the Block IVs as these boats increasingly replace the old 688s.

181020-N-LW591-159 Groton, Conn. (Oct. 20, 2018) Ship sponsor Gloria Valdez, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development, and Acquisitions), breaks a bottle of wine produced by a Vermont vineyard to christen the Virginia-class, fast-attack submarine Pre-Commissioning Unit (PCU) Vermont (SSN 792), during a ceremony at Electric Boat in Groton, Connecticut. PCU Vermont is the third U.S. Navy vessel to be named in honor of the state of Vermont and the 19th Virginia-class, fast-attack submarine. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Steven Hoskins/Released)

And in the “welcome to Red Storm Rising, redux:”

For the first time in nearly 30 years, a U.S. aircraft carrier entered the Arctic Circle Oct. 19 to conduct operations in the Norwegian Sea.

“Accompanied by select ships from Carrier Strike Group Eight (CSG-8), the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) traveled north to demonstrate the flexibility and toughness of U.S. naval forces through high-end warfare training with regional allies and partners. USS America (CV 66) was the last ship to operate in the area, participating in NATO exercise North Star in September 1991.”

181019-N-EA818-0127 NORWEGIAN SEA (Oct. 19, 2018) An F/A-18E Super Hornet, assigned to the “Sunliners” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 81, launches from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). For the first time in nearly 30 years, a U.S. aircraft carrier has entered the Arctic Circle. Accompanied by select ships from Carrier Strike Group Eight (CSG- 8), Harry S. Truman traveled north to demonstrate the flexibility and toughness of U.S. naval forces through high-end warfare training with regional allies and partners. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Thomas Gooley/Released)

HST will be taking part in Trident Juncture, which sprawls across Norway and the surrounding areas of the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, including Iceland and the airspace of Finland and Sweden from Oct. 25 to Nov. 23.

More than 50,000 participants – including 14,000 U.S. service members – are expected to participate, utilizing approximately 150 aircraft, 65 ships, and more than 10,000 vehicles in support of the exercise.

Part of the surge is an amphibious landing in Iceland that includes Iwo Jima‘s Amphibious Ready Group:

Which was not lost on MCT:

Everything old is new again…I feel like I should be playing Harpoon, optimized for Windows 2.11.