WASHINGTON — Flanked by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowa Republican Mariannettee Miller-Meeks witnessed the first submarine to be named after the state on April 5.
Miller-Meeks witnessed this historic event at the Naval Submarine Base New London in Groton, Connecticut.
“To be there, to be able to see the ship, to be a part of the commissioning ceremony — as a veteran it was very cool,” Miller-Meeks said in an interview with The Daily Iowan. “I’d never been part of a commissioning ceremony before, but it’s also an amazing vessel in and of itself.”
The USS Iowa is the fourth Navy vessel to be named for the state; the first served during the Spanish-American War and the second was never finished.
The most famous battleship named after the Hawkeye state served during World War II and the Korean War, fighting extensively in the Pacific Theater before it was decommissioned in 1990. It gained the nickname the “Gray Ghost,” and is currently in the maritime museum.
“Its name was the Gray Ghost because it was so silent, careful, cautious, and deadly,” Miller-Meeks said. “[The USS Iowa] has this legend that precedes it.”
The USS Iowa was years in the making. Construction on the submarine ended in 2019 and it was delivered to the Navy last year, which put it through sea trials before it could enter Navy service.
The 377-foot-long vessel armed with several torpedo tubes and Tomahawk cruise missiles will serve as part of Submarine Squadron 4, a US Navy unit of fast-attack submarines.
The submarine’s captain, Cmdr. Gregory Coy spoke at the commissioning and said the submarine will have its first deployment in November.
“Attending the commissioning ceremony of the USS Iowa submarine was an inspiring and humbling experience,” Reynolds said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. “Throughout our nation’s history, our Navy has remained our first line of defense. Today, the USS Iowa SSN 797 officially began carrying forward that proud tradition. What a great and historic day for the state of Iowa and out @USNavy!”
Hunter Shook, of Iowa City, is in the Naval Academy and was at the commissioning event.
“It was a very cool experience to see so many come from across the United States in light of having some kind of personal military connection, maybe worked on the boat, or just a proud citizen of a state,” he said.
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He was able to take a tour of the submarine and said the stations at the command center of the submarine were labeled with old Iowa license plates. A signed football from Iowa State University is featured in the mess hall, Shook said.
“Just touches like that to send an homage to our state,” he said.
When he first joined the Naval Academy two years ago, Shook said he was set to join aviation, but after a summer submarine cruise and the USS Iowa commissioning, he is heavily considering choosing submarines as his preference.
He said attending the commissioning of the USS Iowa was very motivating.
“This is the latest in technology,” he said. “Just an incredible feat of human engineering.”
Adm. Daryl Caudle, who spoke at the commissioning, said naming the submarine after Iowa is very fitting.
“It just feels natural for us to have a warship named Iowa back on the Navy register,” Caudle said. “For decades the name Iowa reigned supreme amongst the high seas, bestowed upon the most powerful class of battleships of its time.”
Miller-Meeks said the USS Iowa has a very storied legacy and legend.
“You have the history of the USS Iowa, this legacy and legend that’s going to go forward on a submarine that is indefatigable, undetectable, undeterred and will be unstoppable. So we just reminded the crew to be Iowa nice, but for our adversaries, fear the Ghost.”