USS WISCONSIN 50' Inflatable Submarine Exhibit on Capitol Concourse
MADISON, August 10, 2022
WHAT: The Wisconsin Veterans Museum will be unveiling a piece of the new USS Wisconsin (SSBN 827) submarine in a ceremony on Saturday, August 27th. The U.S. Navy has named one of 12 new Columbia-class nuclear submarines as USS Wisconsin (SSBN 827) in honor of our great state.
WHAT: 50ft inflatable replica of USS Wisconsin (SSBN 827) will be on view on the Capitol
Concourse the morning of Saturday, August 27th. This event presented by the USS Wisconsin
(SSBN 827) Association.
WHY: USS Wisconsin (SSBN 827) is the third U.S. Navy vessel to be named in honor of our state carrying on a century-plus naval tradition. SSBN 827 is a Columbia Class nuclear submarine. The Columbia Class submarine program supports the U.S. military’s primary mission to protect the homeland and functions as an essential piece of our national nuclear deterrence triad.
The vessel is one of 12 subs under construction at Newport News in Virginia at a cost of 7.59 billion dollars. Its length will be 560ft which is approximately double the height of the Wisconsin State Capitol building. SSBN 827 is scheduled for completion in 2030.
Wisconsin has a long association with U.S. Navy tradition. The Illinois-class battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-9) sailed as the flagship of the Pacific Fleet from 1898-1903 and sailed around the world with the Great White Fleet in 1909. She was retired as a training ship in 1910.
The Wisconsin tradition continued with the Iowa-class battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64), commissioned in 1943, two years to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, HI. The vessel saw action in World War II and the Korean War and was retired in 1991 after participating in Operations Desert Storm and Desert Shield. She is now decommissioned and serves as a museum ship in Norfolk, VA.
WHERE: Wisconsin Veterans Museum 30 W. Mifflin Street in Madison AND Capitol Square.
WHEN:
- Date: Saturday, August 27th
- Time: 8:30 am Media interviews and photographs. Call or text Jennifer Stevenson for an interview time slot at 608.224.9653. Unveiling ceremony at 9:30am; inflatable submarine christening on Capitol Square after the museum ceremony.
WHO:
- Vessel Sponsor Ms. Kelly Guerts
- Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Mary Kolar
- Assemblyman and former submariner Kevin Peterson
- Museum Director Christopher Kolakowski
- USS Wisconsin SSBN 827 Association
To schedule an interview:
Wisconsin Veterans Museum
Jennifer Van Haaften, Assistant Director
(608) 354-6652
jennifer.vanhaaften@dva.wisconsin.gov
About the Wisconsin Veterans Museum
As a means to educate and inspire an intelligent love of country since 1901, the Wisconsin Veterans Museum preserves and shares the stories of Wisconsin veterans from the Civil War to present day.
The Wisconsin Veterans Museum is an educational activity of the Wisconsin Department of
Veterans Affairs.