The Blog

The Commanding officer of the future USS MONTANA will visit communities across Montana in September. Commander Michael Delaney will be in Billings, Helena, Great Falls, and Missoula September 20-23. With him will be crew member Electronics Technician Second Class (Nuclear) Evan Glenn., a graduate of Bozeman High School. At each location CMDR Delaney will provide an update on the construction … Read More

The first operational commander of USS HELENA, a Los Angeles Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine still in service, is also the first honorary member of the USS Montana Committee. Now retired after 31 years of service in the U.S. Navy, Rear Admiral George E Voelker was in Montana last week. During his Montana visit, RADM Voelker had a radio conversation … Read More

In the week ahead of Memorial Day, honoring those who died while serving in our armed forces, more Montanans saw and heard about their future namesake warship whose sailors will carry on our nation’s proud tradition of citizen military service.

Start of construction of the future USS MONTANA was officially marked in a ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia on May 16, 2018. With a backdrop of a section of MONTANA’s hull, the ceremony included the traditional welding of the initials (in this case, SRJ) of ship sponsor Sally Jewell onto a steel plate that will be affixed to … Read More

More Montanans will be able to see and hear the latest news about the future USS MONTANA over the next several weeks. Presentations in Billings, Colstrip, Lewistown, Miles City, and Sidney will focus on the construction and capabilities of the Virginia Class nuclear-powered fast attack submarine that will bear our state’s name. A bonus will be first looks at the … Read More

The future USS MONTANA is receiving attention across Big Sky Country as a result of news media coverage of the March 22 announcement of the warship’s first command team. An example of the media coverage on the Montana Television Network may be found here, in a report by KXLH’s Jonathan Ambarian.

  A highly-experienced leadership team for the future USS MONTANA was announced on March 22, 2018 by the U.S. Navy. The Commanding Officer is Commander Michael Delaney. The Executive Officer (or second in command) is Lieutenant Commander Jeffrey Kahn. The Chief of the Boat (or senior enlisted advisor) is Senior Chief Michael Dassau. As part of the Navy announcement, Commander … Read More

Huckleberry jam, a Butte copper Moscow Mule cup, a “406” baseball cap, and other products were in a Montana-themed gift basket sold by auction in Norfolk, Virginia on February 24. The auction event was sponsored by a Navy spouses’ non-profit association with members including some whose husbands have already been assigned to the future USS MONTANA. Proceeds went to the … Read More

Several presentations to community groups and military veterans in Butte and Missoula on February 20 & 21 provided construction status updates on PCU (for Pre-Commissioning Unit) MONTANA SSN 794. Attendees learned about the need for new Virginia Class nuclear fast attack submarines, including MONTANA. Among the reasons for building two of the new class of boats each year are the … Read More

This week PCU MONTANA SSN 794 (the eventual USS MONTANA) is officially 41.85 complete, according to Newport News Shipbuilding and Navy personnel. A recent article in the Great Falls Tribune has more detail on the status, based on a USS Montana Committee presentation to the statewide Veterans of Foreign Wars leaders. Other presentations are scheduled in the near future and … Read More