Name announced for future US Navy Virginia-class submarine

US Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has announced that the future Virginia-class nuclear-powered attack submarine SSN 812 will be named USS Baltimore.

The submarine will honour the city of Baltimore, Maryland, the crews of one Continental Navy ship, and the five previous US Navy vessels (including one nuclear-powered submarine) named Baltimore.

The naming selection of the future USS Baltimore continues the recent trend of naming Virginia-class submarines after cities. Del Toro previously named USS Long Island, USS San Francisco, and USS Miami.

Like its Virginia-class sisters, the future Baltimore will be capable of supporting multiple mission areas and can operate at speeds of more than 25 knots for months at a time.

The submarine will operate in littoral and deep waters while conducting anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, special operations forces support, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), irregular warfare, and mine warfare missions.

The Virginia-class submarines were conceived as a less expensive alternative to the Seawolf-class boats, which were designed during the Cold War era, and are replacing older Los Angeles-class submarines.

The future Baltimore will be constructed by General Dynamics Electric Boat of Groton, Connecticut.