There is a new USS Iowa. The Virginia-class nuclear-power fast-attack submarine was named Wednesday afternoon at Iowa State University’s Memorial Union. It is the third naval vessel to have this name.
"One of the things we do to connect to the American people is to name our ships, our submarines after states and cities around this county," says Secretary of Navy Ray Mabus. "One of the iconic ships ever in the U.S. Navy was the USS Iowa, the battleship during World War II, that had such a stories career and now is a museum ship. But it's been a long time since Iowa had a ship named for it in the fleet...It's particularly important for states not on the sea to make that connection."
One of the things we do to connect to the American people is to name our ships, our submarines after states and cities around this county...It's particularly important for states not on the sea to make that connection. -Navy Secretary Ray Mabus
The last USS Iowa carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic in 1943 for the Tehran Conference with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. It was also present in Tokyo Harbor 70 years on September 2, 1945when the Japanese formally surrendered bringing the end of World War II.
"It's very meaningful and very significant that on this occasion, the 70th anniversary of the Japanese surrender, we would have a new ship, in this case a submarine, named after the state of Iowa" says Gov. Terry Branstad. "We're proud of it."
The U.S. Navy says the USS Iowa will weigh 7,800 tons, measure 377 feet in length, and operate at more than 25 knots submerged. Mabus says the new submarine will support a crew of about 130.
