On April 2, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and President Joe Biden participated in the official commissioning of the Virginia-class attack submarine USS Delaware (SSN 791) at the Port of Wilmington in Delaware. C. Todd Lopez reports.
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The USS Delaware makes its way up the Thames River and past the city of New London returning to Submarine Base New London, Oct. 1, 2021, after conducting routine operations (Picture source: U.S. Navy/ John Narewski)
The first lady serves as sponsor of the ship and participated in its christening in October 2018. Officials had planned to commission the Delaware much sooner, but due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the official commissioning ceremony was delayed in favor of administrative commissioning in April 2020. The ship has been in operation since then.
In addition to the Bidens, Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, Delaware Governor John Carney, U.S. Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons of Delaware, the ship's crew, and others officially commissioned the ship.
As the ship's sponsor, Jill Biden has been involved in key events in the ship's history. She has also spent significant time during her husband's presidency and vice presidency working with and supporting the families of military service members — including those of the Delaware's crew.
Sailors board the USS Delaware for the ship's official commissioning ceremony in Wilmington, Del., April 2, 2022 (Picture source: U.S. Navy)
Today marks the beginning of an incredible journey, the ship's long and faithful service to our country. ... We may not know what's to come, but we do know this: The challenges will be met with the honor, distinction and valor of the 125 sailors who serve on her decks. You will lead with unparalleled character and courage."
"Jill has watched over the progress of the USS Delaware for years," Biden said. " the daughter of a Navy signalman during World War II, the mother of a member of the Delaware National Guard, and the grandmother of children who experienced having their father deployed away from home for a year at a time, she always holds our military and their families in her heart."
The first lady said she learned she'd been selected as the ship's sponsor back when her husband served as vice president: "I'll never forget the pride I felt when I stood at the Pentagon with Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus ... to announce that I would be the ship's sponsor," she said. "The USS Delaware was nothing more than a drawing then."
In 2018, the first lady said she attended the christening of the ship in Newport News, Virginia, where the ship was built, and saw what had previously been only a drawing "come to life in a shower of champagne." "I saw the truth of what Secretary Mabus said when it all began, that this vessel will always uphold the first state's motto of 'Liberty and Independence,'" the first lady said.
At the ship's official commissioning, Jill Biden told the Delaware's crew of the confidence both she and the president have in their ability to carry out the mission of the ship and the Navy: defending the nation. : "Today marks the beginning of an incredible journey, the ship's long and faithful service to our country," she said. "We may not know what's to come, but we do know this: The challenges will be met with the honor, distinction and valor of the 125 sailors who serve on her decks. You will lead with unparalleled character and courage."
Navy Cmdr. Matthew Horton, who now serves as commanding officer of the USS Delaware, thanked the first lady for serving as the ship's sponsor and for supporting the families of U.S. service members, including those of the USS Delaware. Horton said sailors have known since antiquity that the best way to conduct naval operations was not on the surface, but beneath the waves. A naval vessel like the USS Delaware accomplishes what they had only dreamed of, he said.
Despite the ship's advanced technological prowess, Horton said the best system onboard the USS Delaware is not its hardware or its weapons systems — it's the sailors who operate it: "The submariners who makeup Delaware come from all parts of our great country, and their dedication to the profession of submarine warfare is unmatched," he said. "We stand before you, not as a crew fresh out of new construction, but a crew that has been evaluated in engineering and tactical performance and taken their place in the battle force. Today, Delaware upholds a proud tradition of the submarine force, ready to sail in harm's way, alone, forward and unafraid."
The USS Delaware is the seventh U.S. Navy ship and the first submarine named after the state of Delaware. The Virginia-class submarine is a multi-mission platform that will carry out the seven core competencies of the submarine force: anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; delivery of special operations forces; strike warfare; irregular warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and mine warfare.
USS Delaware logo (Picture source: U.S. Navy)
