Attack sub Missouri commissioned in Connecticut

GROTON, Conn.

Another attack submarine is joining the Navy.

The USS Missouri, the 7th Virginia-class sub, joins the fleet after a commissioning ceremony Saturday at the Naval Submarine Base New London.

The 377-foot, 7,800-ton Missouri was built in Rhode Island, Connecticut and Virginia as a part of a partnership between General Dynamics and Northrup Grumman Shipbuilding-Newport News.

Becky Gates, wife of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, is the submarine's sponsor. She broke the traditional champagne bottle against the boat's sail during the christening ceremony last December.

The boat is the fifth Navy vessel to be named Missouri. The last was the battleship on which Japan gave its unconditional surrender on Sept. 2, 1945 to end World War II.