A famous nautical name with an Arizona connection is a couple of years from getting a new life in the seas.
A group from Arizona recently traveled to Connecticut and Rhode Island to see the future USS Arizona, which is currently being built there. The new submarine could be commissioned by 2029.
The name of the vessel is synonymous with American history; its bombing in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, was described by President Franklin D. Roosevelt as a date which will "live in infamy."
Nicole LaSlavic, president and CEO of the USS Arizona Legacy Foundation, was on the East Coast tour. She joined The Show to talk more about it.
Full conversation
MARK BRODIE: And Nicole, what did you see while you were there?
NICOLE LASLAVIC: Yes, so correct. We were back — the USS Arizona Legacy Foundation — with delegates from the Greater Phoenix Chamber. And we had the opportunity to visit both the General Dynamics Electric Boat facility in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, as well as their facility in Groton, Connecticut. Both locations are currently building portions of the submarine.
When you think about a submarine, you kind of want to think about it as they form donuts. So, very large rings, and once they complete one section, they will weld a large section to the next section. So over time, eventually you end up with a full submarine.
And so up in Rhode Island, we were able to see parts of the internal structure of the submarine going into the outer perimeter of the submarine. And then once again while we were back down in Groton, Connecticut, we were able to see kind of the middle portion of the submarine at this point, but we have pieces in both locations, so we’re a little ways off from being completed.
MARK BRODIE: So I have been lucky enough to be on a submarine, like a World War II-era submarine. I assume the technology and and other aspects of it have evolved since then.
NICOLE LASLAVIC: Yeah, most certainly. So on a submarine, the technology has evolved quite significantly from World War II submarines, even in the last couple decades. When you think about the control panels, a lot of them are going to more of a touchscreen operation. When you think about the periscope, that’s no longer actually something that you look into, but it’s something that’s, it’s an electronic thing. And so you can see it on a screen; you can have a 360 view.
They also control things through PlayStation handles or game controllers. And so there’s been a forward movement in the technology and realizing what our submariners are used to. They grow up playing games nowadays, and so they wanted to implement what was best for their hand-eye coordination and that was what the Navy determined actually would be best suited for that particular part of the boat.
With regards to the USS Arizona, we are a unique boat in that we are a Virginia payload module boat, which means that we’re going to have 84 additional feet on our submarine. And this will account for four additional vertical tubes that house seven Tomahawk missiles each. And so currently our Tomahawk missile capacity is 12 and this will take us to a total of 40.
And so that’s another technological advancement as well as an engineering advancement that I think Electric Boat has had to have a learning curve because it is essentially a new subsector of the Virginia-class submarine.
MARK BRODIE: So given that, safe to say that when this is ready, this submarine will be going to some of the hottest hotspots around the world.
NICOLE LASLAVIC: Yeah, I would assume so. You know, we don’t have any specifics on where we will be based out of as of right now. Obviously that’s something that will be determined by the U.S. Navy in a handful of years, but I think that, you know, there’s been conversations about possibly having it based out of Pearl Harbor. Obviously there’s a strong significance with the boat being named the USS Arizona and then the USS Arizona BB-39, which was the battleship sunk on December 7, 1941.
MARK BRODIE: So what do the folks who are building this, what do the folks who might be serving on it have to say about both sort of the technological aspects of it but also maybe some of the emotional significance given that, you know, the sinking of the USS Arizona is what in large part led this country into World War II and now there’s a new submarine given the same name?
NICOLE LASLAVIC: Well, I think when you look at the individuals who are working on the boat at General Dynamics, I do think they have a sense of pride in in this and they understand the historical significance of it being named the USS Arizona. In fact, when you walk around, many of them are actually wearing shirts that designate them as working on the USS Arizona. Through various conversations I’ve had with them, they seem to understand the significance of bringing something with such historical value into the future.
Now when I meet with our sailors, it is something that they’ve definitely been educated on. Obviously we are in a very different position than many submarines that come aboard, but that being said, I know that each one of them that I’ve met with and had conversations with, they recognize what the USS Arizona means to the nation. They know that it is of national significance and to honor the men that came before them is something that I think they take a lot of pride in and they recognize the value of giving to your country and what it means to them and what it would have meant to the men that came before them.
MARK BRODIE: So when you talk about what the USS Arizona means to this country, I’m interested to get your perspective on what it means to this state. Because obviously we live in a desert, we are landlocked, no submarines really coming anywhere near Arizona, and yet there really seems to be a sense of ownership of the name and of whichever vessel it is attached to of people who live here.
NICOLE LASLAVIC: Yeah. Well, kind of a fun fact: this is actually the fourth Navy vessel to be named the USS Arizona. And so there were two that were named previous to the battleship. But the battleship was named and it was christened into the U.S. Navy in 1915. And then obviously, you know, with the historical significance of that, we had sailors who were survivors of the battleship BB-39.
And they realized over time that with the survivors passing and, you know, the families being, you know, left behind, that the ability to remember was going to fade away with their passing and time. And so they actually went to then-Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly and said, "Hey, we need to name another vessel the USS Arizona." So it was something that came from the remaining survivors, it came from the family of survivors, and the significance being that if it was lost to time, that they wouldn’t remember.
And so in 2019, that’s when then-acting secretary of the Navy named the USS Arizona SSN-803 submarine. And so it was an opportunity for us to come back to the state of Arizona and say, "Hey, you know, we don’t want to forget the USS Arizona that came before us. We do want to recognize the significance and the remembrance of those men who gave their lives or the men who, you know, ultimately did survive."
And so, you know, even if you go down to the Arizona state Capitol, you can see numerous memorials. You can see the silver set, it’s in the museum that’s in the state of Arizona. I recognize that we are a landlocked state, that we’re a desert state and it’s one of those things you don’t often see sailors walking around the state of Arizona, but I will tell you when we get our crew out here and we have them at community events or schools, it is something that’s quite impactful.
Our citizens have wonderful responses, they’re always engaged, they do say, "Hey, what are you doing here in the middle of the desert?" But you know, it gives them an opportunity to talk about the USS Arizona and what it means to carry the legacy forward.
MARK BRODIE: All right, Nicole. Thanks so much. I appreciate it.
NICOLE LASLAVIC: Yeah, thank you.
MARK BRODIE: Nicole LaSlavic is president and CEO of the USS Arizona Legacy Foundation.
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