USS Montana (SSN-794)

USS Montana (SSN-794)
Montana on 1 February 2022
History
United States
NameMontana
NamesakeState of Montana
Ordered28 April 2014
BuilderNewport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia
Laid down16 May 2018
Launched8 February 2021
Sponsored bySally Jewell
Christened12 September 2020
Acquired12 March 2022
Commissioned25 June 2022
HomeportNorfolk
IdentificationHull symbol:SSN-794
StatusIn active service
General characteristics
Class & typeVirginia-class submarine
Displacement7,800 tons
Length377 ft (115 m)
Beam34 ft (10.4 m)
Draft32 ft (9.8 m)
PropulsionS9G reactor
Speed25 knots (46 km/h)
Endurancecan remain submerged for up to 3 months
Test depthgreater than 800 ft (244 m)
Complement
  • 15 officers
  • 120 enlisted men
Armament12 VLS tubes, four 21 inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes for Mk-48 torpedoes BGM-109 Tomahawk

Montana (SSN-794) is a Virginia-class attack submarine of the United States Navy. She honors the U.S. State of Montana. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the name on 3 September 2015 at a ceremony hosted in Billings, Montana with U.S. Senator Jon Tester.

A contract modification for USS Oregon (SSN-793), Montana (SSN-794), and USS Hyman G. Rickover (SSN-795) was initially awarded to General Dynamics Electric Boat for $594.7 million in April 2012. On 23 December 2014, they were awarded an additional $121.8 million contract modification to buy long lead-time material for the three Virginia-class submarines. The U.S. Navy awarded General Dynamics Electric Boat the contract to construct 10 Block IV Virginia-class submarines for $17.6 billion on 28 April 2014. The tenth boat is scheduled for delivery in 2023.

Construction of Montana began in May 2015 at Huntington Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia. Contract completion date was expected to be in May 2020, but this was delayed because of the COVID pandemic.

Sally Jewell, Montana's sponsor and former U.S. Interior Secretary, christened the vessel on 12 September 2020 at Newport News Shipbuilding, via a virtual ceremony due to the pandemic. Montana was rolled out on 15 October 2020 and will be delivered to the Navy by mid-2022. She was launched in February 2021, and was commissioned on 25 June 2022 at Naval Station Norfolk.