USS John H. Dalton

USS John H. Dalton (SSN-808) will be a nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarine for the United States Navy, the seventh of the Block V attack submarines and 35th overall of the class. She will be the first U.S. Naval vessel named for John Howard Dalton, the 70th Secretary of the Navy and a former submariner who, after graduating with distinction from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1964, served aboard the attack submarine USS Blueback (SS-581) and the ballistic missile submarine USS John C. Calhoun (SSBN-630).^[2]

USS John H. Dalton

The lead boat of the Virginia class, USS Virginia (SSN-774).
History
United States
Name	John H. Dalton
Namesake	John Howard Dalton
Ordered	2 December 2019[1]
Builder	General Dynamics Electric Boat[1]
Identification	Pennant number:SSN-808
General characteristics
Class & type	Virginia-class submarine
Displacement	10,200 tons
Length	460 ft (140 m)
Beam	34 ft (10.4 m)
Draft	32 ft (9.8 m)
Propulsion	S9G reactor auxiliary diesel engine
Speed	25 knots (46 km/h)
Endurance	can remain submerged for more than 3 months
Test depth	greater than 800 ft (244 m)
Complement	15 officers 120 enlisted crew
Armament	40 VLS tubes (12 forward VPT; 28 in VPM), four 21 inch (530 mm) torpedo tubes for Mk-48 torpedoes BGM-109 Tomahawk

The submarine's name was announced on 28 February 2023 by Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.^[3]

Design

Compared to Blocks I-IV of Virginia-class submarines, Block V vessels will incorporate previously introduced modifications to the base design in addition to a Virginia Payload Module (VPM). The VPM inserts a segment into the boat's hull which adds four vertical launch tubes. Each tube allows for the carrying of seven Tomahawk strike missiles, increasing her armament to a total of 40 missiles.^[4]