Committee gathering support for USS Montana nuclear sub

Montanans will soon have more reason to be proud as the USS Montana, the first nuclear attack submarine to bear the name of the Treasure State, is scheduled to join the U.S. Navy fleet in 2020.

The sub is scheduled for completion in 2019, said Bill Whitsitt, the chairman of the USS Montana Committee, who spoke in Havre Wednesday in a statewide tour that aims to tell people about the sub and gather support for it.

After a year of sea trials, the USS Montana will be commissioned and transferred from Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia to the U.S. fleet. It is too early to tell where the USS Montana will be docked, Whitsitt said, but he has reason to believe it will be stationed in Hawaii.

Submarines are the wave of the future, Whitsitt said, and specifically, the Virginia Class to which the USS Montana belongs.

A few years ago the Navy adopted the smaller, less-expensive Virginia class over the larger Los Angeles Class. Construction of the Virginia Class subs has been ramped up since, Whitsitt said.

"We're building two a year. They're built in pieces," he said. "Some of the pieces are built in Connecticut, some in Newport News, Virginia. And then they alternate where they're put together."

It takes about 50 months to build the subs and they cost about $2.7 billion each, Whitsitt said.

"But they have some capabilities we've never seen before in a single vessel," he said. " ... These subs will have all kinds of very stealthy intelligence gathering capabilities. They'll be able to monitor, to sit within feet of the ocean floor quietly, lurking, ready for action."

When it comes to battle and national defense, "submarines are king," Whitsitt said.

"I got a good friend who ... was the first commanding officer of the USS Helena," Whitsitt said. "He likes to say there are only two kinds of ships, submarines and targets."

The USS Montana will have the ability to precisely navigate in shallower waters to come close to adversaries, according to https://www.ussmontanacommittee.us. The sub will be multi-mission, able to deploy and detect mines, launch tomahawk cruise missiles against large land targets, and insert entire platoon-size Navy SEAL special operations teams into dangerous areas, all while submerged.

"She'll be lethal, able to protect carrier and expeditionary strike groups, as well as hunt and destroy enemy attack and missile submarines and surface ships," the website says.

Whitsitt said he has toured the new Virginia Class subs and noticed a few apparent differences from the ones depicted in movies like "The Hunt for Red October" or "U-571." The vessel is piloted with a joystick now and has no periscope.

"They sit in front of a screen with a joystick, flying this thing," he said.

Although no other submarine has had the name of USS Montana, other vessels have. The first and only commissioned USS Montana was an armored cruiser commissioned into the U.S. Navy fleet in 1908.

Two battleships were scheduled to be named Montana but were cancelled in 1922 and 1943, which resulted in Montana being the only state that did not have a battleship named for it.

The USS Montana committee is focused on supporting the commissioning of the USS Montana and supporting its crew and building relationships so the crew members know they have a very specific group of individuals - Montanans - who support them defending the country.

"Our crew is going to be very proud to be aboard the USS Montana. There's no doubt in my mind. And that's because of the support they'll get here in the state," Whitsitt said.

People interested in joining the committee, contributing, or getting updates on the USS Montana can sign up at https://www.ussmontanacommittee.us or mail at USS Montana Committee, P.O. Box 1040, Helena, Montana 59624.