U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens join U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro has he announces the branch's newest Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine will be named the "U.S.S. Atlanta" during a ceremony at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum on Oct. 23, 2024. (Riley Bunch)
(Tribune News Service) — The Navy’s newest Virginia-class, nuclear-powered submarine will launch into service with “U.S.S. Atlanta” branded on its side.
For the first time in 25 years, hundreds of young sailors with the U.S. Navy will travel aboard a vessel named after the city of Atlanta, the branch announced Wednesday at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. Atlanta has had five previous Navy ships named for it, serving in times of crisis during the Civil War, World War II and the Cold War.
The city’s leaders say that the newest edition to the namesake fleet carries more than just a title, but the legacy of Atlanta’s Civil Rights heroes that promoted justice and led the fight for human rights at home and abroad.
“It is the spirit of the relentless pursuit of what is right and what is just that we will send across the seas once again,” U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams said at the ceremony. “As this ship embarks on missions across the world, it will carry with it the unbreakable spirit of Atlanta.”
Atlanta’s newest submarine will also stand aside another vessel named after a Georgia icon: the U.S.S. Jimmy Carter, which was commissioned and named after the 39th president in 2005.
Carter was a young Navy officer in the nation’s nascent nuclear-powered submarine program in 1952 when he helped thwart one of North America’s early nuclear reactor disasters. Carter used his studies in science and nuclear physics to quickly disassemble a Canadian experimental reactor near Ottawa when it overheated.
Carter’s grandson, Josh Carter, spoke about the former president’s deep love for Georgia’s capital city at the naming ceremony.
“If you ask my grandfather about his hometown, he’ll probably tell you about his life in Plains,” Josh Carter said. “But Jimmy Carter’s life in service, his life in politics and his life as a global citizen, all have their origins right here in Atlanta.”
And after a quarter century without a Naval ship carrying Atlanta’s name, Mayor Andre Dickens proclaimed Wednesday: “We may not have any beaches in Atlanta, but now we have a submarine.”
“The U.S.S. Atlanta will sail the seas, keeping peace and — if need be — be able to protect the interests of American citizens,” Dickens told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Throughout history, the city has shared a close relationship with the Navy. The first Marine Corps aviator, Lieutenant Colonel Alfred Cunningham, was born in Atlanta in 1882. The Naval Air Station Atlanta was launched in 1943 and trained thousands of pilots and instructors before moving to Dobbins Air Force base.
U.S. Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said that the U.S.S. Atlanta will help the country face challenges across the world — from the fast approaching third anniversary of Russia’s attack on Ukraine to China’s growing maritime presence.
“Wherever she sails, she will represent not only the legacy of the proud ships that bore the name U.S.S Atlanta before her, but also the thousands of Atlantans who have honorably and faithfully served the United States in uniform,” Del Toro said.
Former Atlanta Mayor Kiesha Lance Bottoms will serve as the ship’s sponsor, a position that is considered an honorary member of the ship’s crew and advocates for its needs.
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