First lady christens nuclear-powered submarine

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – First lady Laura Bush christened a $2.2 billion nuclear-powered attack submarine named after her home state of Texas on Saturday, cracking a bottle of American sparkling wine against the hull on her first try.

“May all who board her be forever blessed, and may all who encounter her upon the seas remember, ‘Don’t mess with Texas,’ ” she said at the ceremony at the Northrop Grumman Newport News shipyard.

With President Bush hitting the campaign trail this weekend in Ohio and Pennsylvania, Laura Bush said he gave her important advice before the big day: “Laura, whatever you do, don’t miss.”

“I promised George I would put those years of watching the Texas Rangers to good use today,” she said.

The Texas is the first submarine to be christened in Newport News in more than nine years. The private ceremony drew about 5,000 people Saturday, including shipyard workers and those from General Dynamics’ Electric Boat division, the yard’s partner on the sub.

Two years ago, the first lady attended a ceremony in Virginia marking the first milestone in the ship’s construction. The Texas is the second submarine in the Virginia class, which eventually could have 30 ships.

Another Texan, keynote speaker Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, said the ship “is another exhibit in our strong national resolve to win the war on terror.”

The first submarine in the class, named the Virginia, was christened last summer at Electric Boat in Groton, Conn. It will be commissioned into the Navy’s fleet in October, while the Texas is expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2005.

Sailors who belong to the Texas crew were excited to witness the christening of the sub, which is about 89 percent complete.

“It’s one step closer to taking the boat underway,” said Chief Petty Officer Gary Roney, a 33-year-old nuclear machinist’s mate from Louisville, Ky.