Navy nuclear-powered submarine USS Indiana to be commissioned at Port Canaveral

The Navy has selected Port Canaveral to host the commissioning later this year of the USS Indiana, a nuclear-powered submarine.

The commissioning and related events over a two-day period are expected to attract thousands of people to the Space Coast.

The Indiana is the 16th of a series of Virginia-class, fast-attack submarines, and will be undergoing sea trials in the second quarter of this year before being commissioned during the third quarter. Specific dates have not been announced, although the commissioning is targeted at this point for the period around Labor Day.

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The commissioning is the ceremony of placing the vessel into active service, commonly applied to placing a warship into active duty with its country's military forces.

"It's the Super Bowl event" for a military ship, said Lee Muller, vice chairman of the USS Indiana Commissioning Committee and retired Navy command master chief.

Muller said the commissioning ceremony could attract 5,000 to 6,000 spectators, including a number of military and civilian dignitaries.

There will be some seats available for the public. Details will be available on the website www.ussindiana.org once the date of the event is finalized.

Port Canaveral beat out two other finalists — Groton, Connecticut, and Norfolk, Virginia — to become the site of the commissioning.

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Diane Luensmann, the port's senior director of government and strategic communications, said Port Canaveral won the support of the selection committee in part due to its staff, it available facilities and its security operations that will reduce costs for Navy staffing of the event.

Canaveral Port Authority Commissioner Bob Harvey, a retired Air Force colonel, said having the commissioning at Port Canaveral "is going to be good for the port, it's good for the military community and it's good for our country."

"It's going to be quite an event," said Canaveral Port Authority Chairman Wayne Justice, a retired Coast Guard two-star admiral. "This is pretty exciting … for an ex-military guy."

"Being a Hoosier, it's even more exciting for me,"  Canaveral Port Authority Commissioner Jerry Allender said.

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The USS Indiana can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles and conduct covert surveillance of land- and sea-based targets. The nuclear-powered sub does not require refueling.

"The best way to describe the firepower is it's impressive," Muller told Canaveral Port Authority commissioners during a presentation Wednesday.

Muller said the USS Indiana's future home port has not yet been determined.

Tentative plans call for two days of commissioning events on a Friday and a Saturday at Port Canaveral. A 5-kilometer run, a sponsor lunch and a commissioning gala dinner would be held on Friday, followed by the formal commissioning ceremony and reception on Saturday.

A statement issued by Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., which was a builder of the sub, said Virginia-class submarines "incorporate dozens of new technologies and innovations that increase firepower, maneuverability and stealth, and significantly enhance their war-fighting capabilities. These submarines are capable of supporting multiple mission packages, and can operate at submerged speeds of more than 25 knots for months at a time."

Among the previous Navy ship commissionings held at Port Canaveral's Naval Ordnance Test Unit wharves were of two Navy destroyers: the USS Porter (DDG 78) on March 20, 1999, and the USS Mason (DDG 87) on April 12, 2003.

Vice President Mike Pence, the former Indiana governor, was the principal speaker when the Navy christened the Indiana in April 2017 in Newport News, Virginia.

The Indianapolis Star contributed to this report.

Dave Berman is government editor at FLORIDA TODAY. 

Contact Berman at 321-242-3649 or dberman@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @bydaveberman

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About the USS Indiana

Class and type: The ship, also known as SSN 789, is the 16th Virginia-class fast-attack submarine

Builders: Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc., in partnership with the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics in Newport News, Virginia

Length: 377 feet

Beam: 34 feet

Speed: 25 knots (28 mph)

Propulsion: One nuclear reactor

Weight: About 7,800 tons submerged 

Armament:  Tomahawk missiles, MK48 ADCAP torpedoes

Test depth: More than 800 feet

Staffing: 134 officers and enlisted personnel

Ship's "sponsor" during christening: Diane Donald, the wife of retired Navy Adm. Kirkland Donald, former director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion. The ceremonial "sponsor" is the equivalent of a "godmother" of a cruise ship.

Namesakes: There were two Navy warships called the USS Indiana. Both have been decommissioned. The first, also known as BB 1, was the first battleship in the Navy. The second, also known as BB 58, was involved in bombarding Kamaishi, Japan, during World War II on July 14, 1945.

Key milestones for USS Indiana

Dec. 22, 2008: Initial contract awarded

May 16, 2015: Keel laid

June 9, 2017: Launched

April 29, 2017: Christened in Newport News, Virginia

Second quarter of 2018: Sea trials planned 

Third quarter of 2018: Commissioning at Port Canaveral

Sources: Port Canaveral, U.S. Navy