USS Texas
Construction

by JOC Michael Foutch, USN, with information provided by Northrop Grumman Newport News

Heralded by First Lady, Senior Navy Leadership

The Honorable Gordon R. England, Secretary of the Navy, 
addresses the employees of Northrop Grumman Newport 
News at the keel authentication ceremony for the newest 
Virginia-class submarine, Texas (SSN-775). First Lady 
Laura Bush and Chief of Naval Operations ADM Vern 
Clark were also in attendance.

As construction continues on USS Virginia (SSN-774), the next submarine of her class marked an important construction milestone in a ceremony 12 July at Northrop Grumman Newport News. 

First Lady Laura Bush authenticated the hull of Texas (SSN-775) by scrawling her initials in chalk on a steel plate, so they could be incised with welding rod and affixed to what will be the keel of the ship. Referring to the advanced design of the Navy's newest class of fast-attack submarines, Mrs. Bush, the ship's sponsor and a native of Midland, Texas, smiled and joked that "Texans love to brag - if something is newer, bigger and better, then it must be from Texas." 

More than 200 guests, including a large group of shipyard workers, listened to a host of Navy and political leaders laud the significant effort already made toward building the ship. 

The First Lady described the submarine's namesake as a land of heroes, legends, and great adventures. "And Texas is the land of the cowboy, an all-American fellow who is polite and slow to anger but who also has an iron fist and steel-toed boots" - attributes she credited not only to Texans but also to all Americans. "I believe that spirit will be built into the core of this ship and its crew," she added. "In the Texas vernacular, this submarine will be bigger and better than anything, anywhere, and it will be manned by the heroes and legends of the United States Navy.  

Under an innovative agreement, Newport News is producing the Virginia-class submarines as part of a team with Electric Boat. The team is currently under contract to build the first four submarines of a class expected to reach 30 ships. This image taken in March 2002 shows sections of the submarines Texas (SSN-775), Hawaii (SSN-776) and North Carolina (SSN-777) under construction at Newport News.

The Virginia-class's advanced technology will bring with it an increase in firepower, maneuverability, and stealth. These submarines are 377 feet long, will be able to stay submerged for up to three months at a time, and are capable of underwater speeds of more than 25 knots. They are designed to be multi-mission capable, with the most advanced levels of stealth and new systems for intelligence gathering and deploying Naval Special Warfare forces in littoral areas. The new class also will serve as the stealthy platform of choice for ISR, strike, covert mining, SOF, ASW, and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASUW) missions. 

"The keel laying is the first milestone - authenticating the foundation - of this ship," said Thomas Shievelbein, President, Northrop Grumman Newport News. "But the real foundation is the shipbuilders who build it and the men who board it. This is a celebration of their skills and dedication." 

"Four centuries ago, sailors arrived on our shores at Jamestown seeking freedom," Virginia Governor Mark Warner said. "Today, our Sailors go around the world to protect freedom." 

Texas, the second Virginia-class submarine, is under construction within a cooperative agreement between Northrop Grumman Newport News and General Dynamics Electric Boat to produce four such platforms, in coordination with Naval Sea Systems Command's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Newport News. Texas' combat system has already been installed in the Command and Control Module, and testing is in progress at CCSM Off-hull Assembly and Test Site (COATS). Meanwhile, construction of Virginia, the lead ship of the class, is 79-percent complete and on schedule for delivery to the Navy in June 2004. 

click here for larger view of graphic

The Virginia class will compose the bulk of the post-688 SSN force. However, planned build rates will not maintain what the Navy has determined to be the minimum essential level of SSNs needed to meet future mission tasking. Program planners have cited evidence that an insufficient SSN force size carries costs in terms of Indications and Warning/ISR gaps, engagement opportunities lost, and ASW and ASUW shortfalls. 

Texas is the 13th submarine to be built in the Northrop Grumman Newport New s Module Outfitting Facility (MOF). In the 130,000-square-foot MOF, submarines are constructed on a level platform, not on an inclined shipway as in years gone by. 

Traditionally, labor, material, and equipment flowed through the shipyard to arrive at a single production site: the ship on an inclined way. But construction for Texas has been broken down into two dozen hull sections and modules, with each portion representing a key sub-assembly of the submarine's hull or equipment. 

Modules are extensively outfitted and tested "off-hull" before the individual pieces a re loaded into the open ends of hull sections and joined to form the ship. This modular construction process is very similar to working with toy building blocks, but on a gigantic scale. At Newport News the ground-work for modular construction was started in the Ring Module Shop, where initial construction of steel hull sections creates tanks, foundations, and deck assemblies. 

Electric Boat's Quonset Point Facility in Rhode Island also contributes groundwork for Texas by building hull rings and subsections outfitted with pipe, machinery, and electrical components. Electric Boat will send 11 major ship sections to Newport News on an ocean-going barge called the Sea Shuttle. Some of these modules will weigh several hundred tons and will ultimately be joined with others built by Newport News to create the Texas. The modules from the Ring Module Shop and Electric Boat will be moved to the MOF, a ten-story building with four large bay doors. Here the work of thousands of employees comes together as major systems and large components are systematically installed and outfitted. Systems and components vary in size - from entire decks and huge condensers to small electric motors and switches. All arrive at the MOF ready for installation on the modules and ultimately in the various hull cylinders. 

After each module is completed and loaded into the hull cylinders, four-wheel electric transfer cars are rolled under the hull ring's strongbacks. Hydraulic jacks on the cars lift the large sections of the ship, which are then wheeled into place and welded together to form part of the complete hull. After the modules are joined and the ship's systems are interconnected, transfer cars under the ship's strongbacks will lift the vessel simultaneously and roll the ship on rails (at four feet per minute) to the outboard ways for additional outfitting and testing. 

After Texas is christened in 2004, it will be transported westward to the edge of the James River and moved onto the yard's 640-foot floating dry dock. As the ship is transferred from land, the floating dry dock's onboard computer receives input from load sensors, tide gauges, vessel position sensors, draft gauges, and tank level sensors to control 40 onboard ballast tanks so the dock remains level during the loading process. After Texas is loaded, the floating dry dock will move to a nearby 70-foot deep basin where the dock will submerge, and the submarine will float free . Tugboats then will pull the ship out of the dock and to a pier in the South Yard for additional testing in preparation for the ship's sea trials and final delivery to the Navy. 

"This sophisticated new platform provides versatility from the sea to the littorals," Northrop Grumman Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kent Kresa said. "Texas will have an ability to collaborate with other ships on an unprecedented scale, essential in missions which will become crucial in a post-9/11 environment." 

Virginia construction is now more than 79% complete, 
and delivery is currently on schedule for June 2004.

Senator John Warner (R-VA), ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, pointed out that America's security requires transforming the military to be able to carry out strikes anywhere in the world. "This Virginia-class is leading the transformation to meet that requirement, with its stealth capability to go to the far corners, to deliver special operations forces and to disrupt command, control, and communications. No longer is a submarine just for firing torpedoes." But the loudest applause came when Sen. Warner promised more to come: "We will appropriate money to build her sister ships and beyond." 

Chief of Naval Operations ADM Vern Clark said the Navy's mission is to take America's combat power around the globe and take the fight to our enemies. The future USS Texas, he added, with its awesome array of combat capabilities, will enable America to "strengthen the shield of freedom, enabling us to sail where others fear to go." 

"Over 225 years ago, our nation's forefathers established a Navy to safeguard our economic prosperity and defend our homeland," ADM Clark said. "The Submarine Force is an essential part of our strength today. Our submarines control the seas, enabling us to strike our enemies from there. We're in a global war on terrorism, and our mission is to keep the enemy on the run. Our enemies in this global war will never know we're coming until they feel the sting from America's submarines." 

Looking out toward the shipyard workers in the back of the large construction facility, ADM Clark made a request: "Build us a ship that can go in harm's way, because that's what we intend to do."  

"Benjamin Franklin," Sen. Warner added, "in response to the question, 'What have you brought forth?' from members of the press waiting outside the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, answered, 'A republic, if you can keep it.' You have produced a vessel to make certain we keep our republic." 

Texas is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2005.