USS ''Maine'' (SSBN-741) is a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

ballistic missile submarine A ballistic missile submarine is a submarine capable of deploying submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) with nuclear warheads. The United States Navy's hull classification symbols for ballistic missile submarines are SSB and SSBN – t ...

in commission since 1995. She is the fourth U.S. Navy ship authorized, and the third commissioned, to be named in honor of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. She has the capability to carry 24 nuclear armed Trident ballistic missiles.

Construction and commissioning

The contract to build ''Maine'' was awarded to the

Electric Boat An electric boat is a powered watercraft driven by electric motors, which are powered by either on-board battery packs, solar panels or generators. While a significant majority of water vessels are powered by diesel engines, with sail pow ...

Division of the

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

Corporation, Groton,

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, on 5 October 1988, and her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid there on 3 July 1990. ''Maine'' was launched on 16 July 1994, delivered to the U.S. Navy on 23 June 1995, and commissioned on 29 July 1995 at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, on the shore of its namesake state.

Service history

''Maine'' has been homeported at Naval Base Kitsap, Bangor,

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

since December 2005. Prior to this, she was homeported at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay from August 1995 until December 2005.

''Maine'' in fiction

* ''Maine'' plays a major role in

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

's novel '' The Sum of All Fears''.

References

External links

* * Ships built in Groton, Connecticut Ohio-class submarines Nuclear submarines of the United States Navy 1994 ships Submarines of the United States {{US-submarine-stub