USS New Hampshire (SSN-778)

USS "New Hampshire" (SSN-778), a "Virginia"-class nuclear-powered attack submarine, is the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the state of New Hampshire (though one of her predecessors, BB-70, existed only on paper — authorized, but cancelled before keel laying). The name was awarded to the submarine after a letter-writing campaign by the third-graders from Garrison Elementary School in Dover to their members of Congress, the state governor, and the Secretary of the Navy. [cite web
url= http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051222/NEWS01/112220123&SearchID=73230335949234
title= "New attack submarine gets N.H. name, thanks to Dover students' campaign"
author= Colin Manning | date= December 22, 2005
publisher= "Foster's Daily Democrat"
pages= |language= |doi= |archiveurl= |archivedate= |quote=
accessdate= 2008-02-12]

The contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut on 14 August 2003. Construction began in January, 2004. [Navsource|08/08778|New Hampshire" (SSN-778) ] A keel-laying ceremony for the submarine was held at Electric Boat's Quonset Point facility in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, on 30 April 2007. The ship's sponsor was Cheryl McGuinness of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, the widow of Thomas McGuinness, co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, who died in the September 11, 2001 attacks when the jet was flown into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. [ cite web
url=http://www.gdeb.com/news/news.html#04-30-07
title=Electric Boat Lays Keel For Submarine New Hampshire
date=April 30, 2007 |publisher=Electric Boat Corporation
accessdate= 2008-04-11 ]

The submarine was launched on 21 February 2008 and christened four months later, on 21 June 2008 in Groton, Connecticut, eight months ahead of schedule and $54 million under budget. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Thousands Mark New Navy Sub", June 22, 2008.] cite web
url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/21/sub.christening.ap/index.html
title="Navy's newest submarine christened"
date=June 21, 2008 |publisher=CNN
accessdate= 2008-06-21 ] USS "New Hampshire" finished sea trials and was delivered to the Navy August 28, 2008 [cite web
url=http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/08/25/daily50.html
title=General Dynamics delivers submarine ahead of schedule
author=Tierney Plumb |publisher=Washington Business Journal |date=2008-08-28 |accessdate=2008-08-31] . The ship is scheduled to be commissioned in a ceremony at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine on October 25, 2008. [Grogan, Jennifer, [http://www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=a37e9d4f-5bc7-45c6-840c-a4b1bfd1ba11 "New Hampshire A Step Closer To Joining The Fleet"] , June 22, 2008, "New London (CT) Day".]

References

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/08/08778.htm Navsource.org: USS "New Hampshire"]