[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 41 (Wednesday, March 20, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E340-E341]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            SHIPYARD LAYS KEEL OF THE JOHN WARNER SUBMARINE

                                  _____
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 20, 2013

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to announce that former Virginia 
Senator and Secretary of the Navy John Warner was honored last Saturday 
at a keel laying ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of 
Huntington Ingalls Industries. This is a special occasion for the Navy 
and the Commonwealth of Virginia as the John Warner SSN 785, a 377-foot 
nuclear-powered submarine, is the first Virginia-class fast attack 
submarine to be named after a person. The submarine's apt namesake 
shows John Warner's dedication to the service of our country. 
Construction of the 12th Virginia-class submarine began in 2009 and it 
is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2015. I am pleased to have 
served with John Warner in Congress and submit a Daily Press accounting 
of the ceremony.

                 [From the Daily Press, Mar. 17, 2013]

            Shipyard Lays Keel of the John Warner Submarine

                      (By Michael Welles Shapiro)

       On Saturday the former lawmaker whose fingerprints are all 
     over Newport News Shipbuilding's involvement in the 
     construction of Virginia-class nuclear submarines watched as 
     his initials were welded onto a piece of the shipyard's 
     latest boat.
       In a rarity in military shipbuilding, the shipyard laid the 
     keel of a fast-attack submarine with its namesake, former 
     senator and Secretary of the Navy John Warner, in attendance.
       The boat is the 12th in the Virginia-class program and it 
     is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2015. The shipyard, 
     a unit of Huntington Ingalls Industries, builds the boats in 
     partnership with General Dynamics Electric Boat in Groton, 
     Conn., a unique arrangement that Warner is credited with 
     helping to start.
       Shipyard president Matt Mulherin said naming the latest 
     submarine for Warner is fitting because ``he led the efforts 
     to create this teaming agreement between Newport News 
     Shipbuilding and Electric Boat to cooperatively build these 
     submarines.''
       Navy leaders also spoke glowingly of the joint construction 
     program. Adm. John Richardson, the director of the Naval 
     Nuclear Propulsion Program, said, ``the on-time, on-cost, on-
     quality implementation of this program is well-known.''
       Warner also received accolades from lawmakers in 
     attendance.
       Sen. Mark Warner, who is no relation, said he admired the 
     former senator for being a politician who was willing to set 
     aside politics when push came to shove.
       Mark Warner, a Democrat, said that when he was governor, 
     John Warner, a Republican, spoke out in support of a Mark 
     Warner budget bill that had stalled during a partisan tug of 
     war.
       ``We could use a lot more John Warners in the United States 
     Congress at this point,'' he said.
       John Warner's wife, Jeanne, is the submarine's sponsor.
       To close the ceremony the couple chalked their initials on 
     a steel plate before shipyard worker Matthew Shilling welded 
     the letters onto the metal.
       Shilling, 27, said after the ceremony that he'd been 
     practicing welding block letters during the week leading up 
     to the keel laying.
       But Warner threw the shipbuilder a curve when he wrote his 
     ``J'' in cursive with a flourish. ``I was nervous,'' Shilling 
     said, saying he's more accustomed to working in a loud 
     construction environment.
       Warner also improvised a bit as the ceremony wrapped up.
       The Navy and Marine Corps veteran made an unexpected 
     gesture to show that the submarine represents not just him 
     but an entire generation that served in World War II.
       He asked the sub's prospective commanding officer, Cmdr. 
     Dan Caldwell, to

[[Page E341]]

     have a small pin that he and others who served received at 
     the end of the war kept onboard the submarine near the steel 
     plate.


                           What's in a name?

       From 1903 to the late 1960s, attack submarines like the 
     Warner were given the names of fish and creatures of the 
     deep--the Seawolf, the Sturgeon and the Whale, for instance.
       In his speech, Warner attributed a change in that 
     convention to former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird.
       Warner said he and Adm. Hyman Rickover--the famed admiral 
     who pushed Congress to buy nuclear-powered ships--were called 
     in to meet with Laird and the secretary brought up the topic 
     of ship names.
       Laird told the two men, ``fish don't appropriate, and fish 
     don't vote, so stop calling them fish,'' according to Warner.
       Since 1973 the country's two large classes of attack 
     submarines have been named for cities and states. The two 
     exceptions to those traditions are a boat that was named for 
     Rickover and built in the 1980s and the Warner.
       Military ships of any sort are seldom named for living 
     people.
       Starting in the 1970s about three ships a decade have been 
     named for people who are living at the time of the 
     announcement, according to a July 2012 Navy report to 
     Congress on naming conventions.
       The list includes four presidents, former Arizona Rep. 
     Gabby Giffords, astronaut and former senator John Glenn and 
     comedian Bob Hope, who was famous for his numerous United 
     Service Organizations shows to entertain military personnel.
       ``(W)hile naming ships after living persons remains a 
     relatively rare occurrence . . . it is now an accepted but 
     sparingly used practice for pragmatic (Navy) secretaries of 
     both parties,'' the report says.
       ``(O)ccasionally honoring an especially deserving member of 
     Congress, U.S. naval leader or famous American with a ship 
     name so that they might end their days on earth knowing that 
     their life's work is both recognized and honored by America's 
     Navy-Marine Corps Team, and that their spirit will accompany 
     and inspire the team in battle, is sometimes exactly the 
     right thing to do.''
       Asked how he felt about having a submarine named for him, 
     Warner said, ``I'm not too much of a philosopher,'' but ``I'm 
     humbled.''

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