Construction and Commissioning
Tennessee's construction was authorized in Fiscal year 1980, and the contract to build her was awarded to the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corporation in Groton, Connecticut, on 7 January 1982. Her keel was laid down there on 9 June 1986. She was launched on 13 December 1986, sponsored by Mrs. Landess Kelso, and commissioned on 17 December 1988, with Captain D. Witzenburg in command of the Blue Crew and Captain Kenneth D. Barker in command of the Gold Crew. She was the first submarine capable of firing the Trident II ballistic missile to be commissioned.
Read more about this topic: USS Tennessee (SSBN-734)
Famous quotes containing the word construction:
“When the leaders choose to make themselves bidders at an auction of popularity, their talents, in the construction of the state, will be of no service. They will become flatterers instead of legislators; the instruments, not the guides, of the people.”
—Edmund Burke (1729–1797)