Submarine to be named USS Indiana

There is now a submarine named the USS Indiana.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced one of the next five Virgina-class attack submarines will be named after Indiana. This is the first ship named after the state in about 50 years.

“It’s a proud and happy day for the nation’s most patriotic state,” Gov. Mitch Daniels said in a press release. “We celebrate this news on behalf of all those Hoosiers who have served in the uniforms of the Navy and Marine Corps, and also those now working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, whose enormous contributions were one of the reasons Secretary Mabus made the decision he did.”

The other four ships will be named the USS Illinois, USS Washington, USS Colorado and USS South Dakota.

Mabus said he named the submarines to honor the great contributions and support these states have given the military through the years.

“Each of these five states serves as home to military bases that support our national defense and provides men and women who volunteer to serve their country,” Mabus said in a press release. “I look forward to these submarines joining the fleet and representing these great states around the world.”

The most recent USS Indiana to serve was decommissioned in October 1963. The new USS Indiana is designated SSN 789 and is the third ship to be named after the state.

“Prior ships carrying the names of these five states stood as defenders of freedom on the water,” Mabus said. “Now these states will represent the latest and greatest technology ever assembled to submerge below the surface and project power forward.”

— Claire Aronson