May it slaughter 10 thousand terrorists…

Cheryl McGuinness of Portsmouth, N.H., will christen the ship in the Navy tradition by breaking a bottle of sparking wine over the submarine.

Her husband, Thomas McGuinness, was co-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, which was flown into the World Trade Center’s North Tower in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Here are some hella-awesome construction pics as well as a high-res picture of Cheryl McGuinness whacking the bottle on it back on June 21st.

I don’t know exactly what a “Virginia-class attack submarine” can do, but I’d bet more than a dollar that the tube pictured there could kick some serious ass if it needs to. I mean … just read this:

Specifications: Power Plant: One S9G pressurized water reactor, ??,000 shp, one shaft with pumpjet propulsor, Improved Performance Machinery Program Phase III one secondary propulsion submerged motor. Displacement, 7,800 tons submerged. Length: 377 feet. Draft: 32 feet. Beam: 34 feet. Speed: 25+ knots submerged. Depth: Greater than 800 feet. Horizontal Tubes: Four 21″ Torpedo Tubes, Vertical Tubes: 12 Vertical Launch System Tubes, Weapons: 38 weapons, including: Vertical Launch System Tomahawk Cruise Missiles, Mk 48 ADCAP Heavyweight Torpedoes, Advanced Mobile Mines, Unmanned Undersea Vehicles, Special Warfare: Dry Deck Shelter. Advanced SEAL Delivery System. Sonars: Spherical active/passive arrays. Light Weight Wide Aperture Arrays. TB-16, TB-29, and future towed arrays. High-frequency chin and sail arrays. Countermeasures: 1 internal launcher (reloadable 2-barrel) 14 external launchers. Crew: 113 officers and men.

Major fun at parties! I believe it still has to go through trial runs and will be delivered to the Navy as of October. Go get ‘em, USS New Hampshire!

UPDATE: More than you ever needed to know about Virginia-class attack submarines. Really interesting reading if you’re into this sort of thing. Plus random facts - they don’t have periscopes! And my suspicions confirmed. They CAN kick some serious ass.