A new U.S. Navy submarine will be named the U.S.S. Illinois.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced the name at a ceremony in Chicago on Friday. “Thank you for joining us in the celebration of this great state whose name will soon be forged in steel and sent to sea to protect America,” he said.
He and the governor signed a drawing of the under-construction submarine.
The nuclear-powered attack submarine is being built in Connecticut. It’s expected in service in 2015, and it should be in service for 30 years.
The last U.S.S. Illinois was a battleship that sailed from 1898-1920. The only previous U.S.S. Illinois was a war sloop on which construction began in 1864, but it was never completed.
