Contract awarded to build sub named for N.D.

BISMARCK — The Navy has awarded a $14 billion contract that includes money to build a nuclear submarine that will be named for the state of North Dakota.

The contract has $2.4 billion to build the North Dakota and buy parts for other submarines, according to a statement from General Dynamics Corp.’s Electric Boat division. General Dynamics is based in Falls Church, Va.

The North Dakota will be built in shipyards at Groton, Conn., and Newport News, Va., and assembled at Groton, said Robert Hamilton, a General Dynamics spokesman. The Newport News shipyard is run by Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding.

The sub will take five to six years to build, and should be ready for sea trials in 2014, Hamilton said Tuesday.

The sub will be 377 feet long and have a crew of 134 officers and enlisted men. It will have four torpedo tubes and be capable of carrying special-forces soldiers and launching Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Gov. John Hoeven and North Dakota’s congressional delegation were told in July that the Navy planned to name a new sub after North Dakota.

The last naval vessel to carry the state’s name was a World War I-era ship that was used for gunnery and engineering training. It was sold for scrap in 1931.

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