Huntington Ingalls Industries' Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division has handed over the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Massachusetts to the US Navy.
The boat is the 25th Virginia-class submarine overall, as well as the 12th in the Virginia-class to be delivered by NNS.
As with her Virginia-class sisters, the submarine will be capable of operating in littoral and deep waters. Missions will include anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, special operations forces support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, irregular warfare, and mine warfare.
The future Massachusetts measures 377 feet (114 metres) long and 34 feet (10.3 metres) wide. She will be able to dive to depths greater than 800 feet (240 metres).
The Virginia-class submarines were conceived as a less expensive alternative to the Seawolf-class boats, which were designed during the Cold War era, and are replacing the older Los Angeles-class submarines.
Construction of the Virginia-class boats is being undertaken by NNS as part of the teaming agreement with General Dynamics Electric Boat, which is the prime contractor for the construction of nuclear-powered submarines for the US Navy.
