MAINE (SSBN 741) AT KITTERY, MAINE
The ballistic missile submarine Maine (SSBN 741) will be commissioned at noon
on Saturday, July 29, 1995, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery,
Maine.
Secretary of Defense William J. Perry will be the ceremony's principal
speaker, and Donna McLarty, who christened the ship in July of 1994, will make
sponsor's remarks. Mrs. McLarty is the wife of Counselor to the President Mack
McLarty.
Speakers at the ceremony will also include Maine political leaders Senator
William S. Cohen, Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Representative John E. Baldacci,
Representative James B. Longley, Jr., and Governor Angus S. King; as well as
Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton and the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Strategic
Command, Admiral Henry G. Chiles, Jr.
The submarine is named for our 23rd State. Two previous U.S. Navy ships have
been named Maine, an armored battleship (1895-1898) whose sinking precipitated
the Spanish-American War, and another battleship (BB 10) (1902-1920) which
participated in the globe-circling deployment of the "Great White Fleet."
Maine is the 16th of 18 Ohio Class ballistic missile submarines authorized by
Congress. As a principal part of the U.S. strategic defense posture, Maine
will serve as an ever-vigilant deterrent in an uncertain world.
Maine will be manned by two rotating crews of 16 officers and 157 enlisted
personnel. Captain Gary A. Gradisnik, USN, a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
will be the commanding officer for the Blue crew, and Commander David L. Comis,
USN, of Thousand Oaks, California, will be the Gold crew commanding officer.
Maine will be homeported at Naval Submarine Base, Kings Bay, Georgia. The
submarine is 560 feet in length, has a beam of 42 feet and displaces
approximately 18,750 tons submerged.
Media wishing to attend the ceremony should contact Lieutenant Commander James
Brooks, Maine Pre-Commissioning Unit Information Bureau, at (207) 438-3967.
