The Navy’s next class of ballistic missile submarines will be named after the nation’s capital.
The first ship in the SSBN(X) program, commonly called the Ohio-class replacement, will be called the USS Columbia after the District of Columbia, a spokesman for Navy Secretary Ray Mabus confirmed.
Ballistic-missile boats, referred to as “boomers,” are larger than attack submarines and conduct deterrent patrols carrying nuclear missiles. They form one of the three legs of the nation’s nuclear triad.
The new sub will be the ninth Navy vessel to bear the name Columbia, but the first one to honor the District.
The only existing USS Columbia in the fleet is a Los Angeles-class attack submarine, which was named after the cities of Columbia in Missouri, South Carolina and Illinois. It was christened by Hillary Clinton in 1995 when she served as a senator from New York. The sub was also the last submarine to be launched by sliding down a wooden ramp.
USNI News was first to report the ship name.
