Montana II (SSN-794)
The second U.S. Navy ship named for the 41st State, admitted to the Union in 1889. The name is taken from the Latin mont-nus meaning “mountainous.”
II
(SSN-794: displacement 7,800; length 377'0"; beam 34'0"; draft 32'0"; speed 25+ knots; complement 132; armament 12 Vertical Launch System tubes, 4 torpedo tubes for Mk 48 Advanced Capability torpedoes; class Virginia)
The Navy awarded Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Newport News Shipbuilding division the contract to build SSN-794 on 28 April 2014. The company began construction of the attack submarine in April 2015 at Newport News, Va., and Secretary of the Navy Raymond E. Mabus Jr., announced the assignment of the name Montana to her during a ceremony in Billings, Montana, on 3 September 2015.
Secretary of the Interior Sally M.R. Jewell, the ship’s sponsor, authenticated Montana’s keel on 16 May 2018. Mariah Gladstone, a member of the Blackfeet Nation in Montana, performed a Native American blessing during the ceremony.
Montana is designed to seek and destroy enemy submarines and ships; project power ashore with UGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and special operations forces; carry out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions; support battle groups; and engage in mine warfare.
Detailed history pending.
Mark L. Evans
22 May 2018
