Navy building USS Long Island; nuclear sub could join fleet by end of decade
State Sen. Kevin Thomas (D-Garden City), left, and U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro attend the official submarine naming ceremony for the USS Long Island at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point in September. Credit: Sen. Kevin Thomas via X
A new nuclear-powered submarine on the drawing board for the U.S. Submarine Force will enter service as the USS Long Island, the third U.S. Navy ship to be named after Long Island and the first since World War II.
A date for the keel-laying ceremony, the symbolic start of construction for any ship or submarine, has yet to be announced by the military. The new state-of-the-art, Virginia-class attack submarine is likely to begin its service near the end of the decade, officials said.
The name selection was first announced by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp during Fleet Week in New York City in May 2023.
In a September news conference at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Del Toro announced New York Public Library Chief Operating Officer Iris Weinshall, wife of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, will serve as sponsor of the new sub. In Navy tradition, that role is considered central to the well-being and safekeeping of the boat and crew.
"New York has been a Navy town since our nation's founding," Del Toro said, noting the history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and service from the five boroughs, as well as Nassau and Suffolk, adding: "Long Islanders themselves have always answered the call to service to our nation, serving in every major conflict in United States' history from the Revolutionary War to the present day, and I was proud to name the future USS Long Island last year during New York Fleet Week."
As Weinshall said in a statement this week: "I’m thrilled that Long Island is being recognized with this honor. My uncle proudly served in the Navy during the Korean War, and it had a lasting impact on him throughout his life."
The Long Island — officially known as SSN-809; the code stands for "Ship Submersible" and the N to indicate nuclear-power — will be eighth in a fifth block of Virginia-class subs ordered by the Navy and the 36th overall. To be built primarily at HII, formerly known as Huntington Ingalls Industries, in Newport News, Virginia, the boat will be 461 feet long with a 34-foot beam and a displacement of 10,200 metric tons. The new Long Island will have a crew 132 — 15 officers and 117 enlisted men and women.
Powered by a single nuclear reactor with an auxiliary diesel engine driving a single propeller shaft, the future Long Island will have a top speed of about 25 knots, or, about 28.7 mph.
"The Virginia class attack submarine is the U.S. Navy's newest undersea warfare platform and incorporates the latest in stealth, intelligence gathering and weapons system technology," according to Military.com, which said the estimated cost of building each Virginia-class submarine is about $4.3 billion.
The nuclear submarine will be the third ship to bear the Long Island name in U.S. Navy history — the first since the escort carrier USS Long Island (CVE-1) was commissioned on June 2, 1941, just months before formal United States involvement in World War II.
As a diesel-powered escort carrier, the Long Island was 492 feet long — little more than half the length of a full-size Essex-class aircraft carrier, such as the USS Intrepid (CV-11), which was 872 feet long — and it headed a class of ships known as "baby flattops."
Reaching the Pacific months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Long Island played a role in the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Her 19 Long Island-built Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter planes and 12 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers were the first planes to reach liberated Henderson Field.
Following V-J Day, the Long Island helped transport troops back to the United States.
Postwar, the Long Island was decommissioned and converted for merchant service, first as the Nelly, then as the Seven Seas. She ferried immigrants between Europe, Canada and Australia for the Canada-Europe Line. Chartered to a German company, a fire took her out of service in 1965. She was later associated with Rotterdam University as a student hostel and as a migrant hostel in the 1970s before being scrapped in Belgium in 1977.
The first ship to bear the Long Island name was a World War I-era steam trawler built as a civilian vessel in Maine in 1912. It was converted and commissioned by the U.S. Navy as the USS Long Island (SP-572) in May 1917. It served throughout World War I patrolling Boston Harbor, and was sold to a Virginia company in December 1919. The fate of the 164-foot-long ship is undocumented after that.
Of course, the history of the U.S. Submarine Force, comprising some 5,000 officers and about 55,000 enlisted men and women, can trace its earliest roots to Long Island.
Some of the earliest submersibles were tested by inventor John Holland and his Holland Torpedo Boat Company at the first U.S. submarine base, located on Cutchogue Harbor in New Suffolk between 1899 and 1905. The company later moving to Groton, Connecticut, where it would become General Dynamics Electric Boat, now a leading builder of subs.
In fact, while the new USS Long Island will be primarily built and assembled at HII in Newport News, sections will be fabricated at General Dynamics and shipped via barge to be fitted at HII, officials said. The two companies work hand in hand on the Virginia-class subs, the latest of which, the USS New Jersey (SSN-796), was commissioned on Sept. 14.
The Navy said construction of components for the Long Island began in March 2023.
With nuclear submarines, the build time could run as long as eight to 10 years, officials said — though the timeline on recent Virginia class subs seem to be closer to five years.
"We’re excited to be constructing Long Island (SSN 809) for the U.S. Navy alongside our shipbuilding partner and thousands of submarine industrial base suppliers across the nation," Todd Corillo, a spokesperson for HII's Newport News Shipbuilding Division, said in a statement.
"We understand the importance of these Virginia-class submarines to our national defense and our shipbuilders take great pride in this critical work," he said.
A new nuclear-powered submarine on the drawing board for the U.S. Submarine Force will enter service as the USS Long Island, the third U.S. Navy ship to be named after Long Island and the first since World War II.
A date for the keel-laying ceremony, the symbolic start of construction for any ship or submarine, has yet to be announced by the military. The new state-of-the-art, Virginia-class attack submarine is likely to begin its service near the end of the decade, officials said.
The name selection was first announced by Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Wasp during Fleet Week in New York City in May 2023.
In a September news conference at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, Del Toro announced New York Public Library Chief Operating Officer Iris Weinshall, wife of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, will serve as sponsor of the new sub. In Navy tradition, that role is considered central to the well-being and safekeeping of the boat and crew.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- The U.S. Navy will build the USS Long Island, the third U.S. Navy ship to be named after Long Island and the first since World War II.
- The nuclear-powered sub isn't expected to be in service until the end of the decade.
- The U.S. Submarine Force, comprising some 5,000 officers and about 55,000 enlisted men and women, can trace its earliest roots to Long Island.
"New York has been a Navy town since our nation's founding," Del Toro said, noting the history of the Brooklyn Navy Yard and service from the five boroughs, as well as Nassau and Suffolk, adding: "Long Islanders themselves have always answered the call to service to our nation, serving in every major conflict in United States' history from the Revolutionary War to the present day, and I was proud to name the future USS Long Island last year during New York Fleet Week."
As Weinshall said in a statement this week: "I’m thrilled that Long Island is being recognized with this honor. My uncle proudly served in the Navy during the Korean War, and it had a lasting impact on him throughout his life."
Newest class of submarine
The Long Island — officially known as SSN-809; the code stands for "Ship Submersible" and the N to indicate nuclear-power — will be eighth in a fifth block of Virginia-class subs ordered by the Navy and the 36th overall. To be built primarily at HII, formerly known as Huntington Ingalls Industries, in Newport News, Virginia, the boat will be 461 feet long with a 34-foot beam and a displacement of 10,200 metric tons. The new Long Island will have a crew 132 — 15 officers and 117 enlisted men and women.
Powered by a single nuclear reactor with an auxiliary diesel engine driving a single propeller shaft, the future Long Island will have a top speed of about 25 knots, or, about 28.7 mph.
"The Virginia class attack submarine is the U.S. Navy's newest undersea warfare platform and incorporates the latest in stealth, intelligence gathering and weapons system technology," according to Military.com, which said the estimated cost of building each Virginia-class submarine is about $4.3 billion.
Invoking historic name
The nuclear submarine will be the third ship to bear the Long Island name in U.S. Navy history — the first since the escort carrier USS Long Island (CVE-1) was commissioned on June 2, 1941, just months before formal United States involvement in World War II.
The USS Long Island (AVG-1) Underway on July 8, 1941, with two F2A fighters parked at the forward end of her flight deck. Credit: National Archives
As a diesel-powered escort carrier, the Long Island was 492 feet long — little more than half the length of a full-size Essex-class aircraft carrier, such as the USS Intrepid (CV-11), which was 872 feet long — and it headed a class of ships known as "baby flattops."
Reaching the Pacific months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the Long Island played a role in the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Her 19 Long Island-built Grumman F4F Wildcat fighter planes and 12 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers were the first planes to reach liberated Henderson Field.
Following V-J Day, the Long Island helped transport troops back to the United States.
Postwar, the Long Island was decommissioned and converted for merchant service, first as the Nelly, then as the Seven Seas. She ferried immigrants between Europe, Canada and Australia for the Canada-Europe Line. Chartered to a German company, a fire took her out of service in 1965. She was later associated with Rotterdam University as a student hostel and as a migrant hostel in the 1970s before being scrapped in Belgium in 1977.
The first ship to bear the Long Island name was a World War I-era steam trawler built as a civilian vessel in Maine in 1912. It was converted and commissioned by the U.S. Navy as the USS Long Island (SP-572) in May 1917. It served throughout World War I patrolling Boston Harbor, and was sold to a Virginia company in December 1919. The fate of the 164-foot-long ship is undocumented after that.
Long Island legacy
Of course, the history of the U.S. Submarine Force, comprising some 5,000 officers and about 55,000 enlisted men and women, can trace its earliest roots to Long Island.
Some of the earliest submersibles were tested by inventor John Holland and his Holland Torpedo Boat Company at the first U.S. submarine base, located on Cutchogue Harbor in New Suffolk between 1899 and 1905. The company later moving to Groton, Connecticut, where it would become General Dynamics Electric Boat, now a leading builder of subs.
In fact, while the new USS Long Island will be primarily built and assembled at HII in Newport News, sections will be fabricated at General Dynamics and shipped via barge to be fitted at HII, officials said. The two companies work hand in hand on the Virginia-class subs, the latest of which, the USS New Jersey (SSN-796), was commissioned on Sept. 14.
The Navy said construction of components for the Long Island began in March 2023.
With nuclear submarines, the build time could run as long as eight to 10 years, officials said — though the timeline on recent Virginia class subs seem to be closer to five years.
"We’re excited to be constructing Long Island (SSN 809) for the U.S. Navy alongside our shipbuilding partner and thousands of submarine industrial base suppliers across the nation," Todd Corillo, a spokesperson for HII's Newport News Shipbuilding Division, said in a statement.
"We understand the importance of these Virginia-class submarines to our national defense and our shipbuilders take great pride in this critical work," he said.
John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”
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