Newport News Shipbuilding To Host Keel-Laying Ceremony For Submarine Indiana


ADVISORY, May 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --

What: Media are invited to attend a celebration to lay the keel for the Virginia-class submarine Indiana (SSN 789) at HII's Newport News Shipbuilding division. The ceremony is not open to the public.
   
Who: Diane Donald, wife of Adm. Kirkland Donald (U.S. Navy, Ret.), will serve as the submarine's sponsor. Other ceremony participants will include Vice Adm. Michael J. Connor, commander, Submarine Forces; Stephen Trautman, deputy director, Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program; Matt Mulherin, president, Newport News Shipbuilding; and Jeffrey S. Geiger, president, General Dynamics Electric Boat.
   
When: Media Preview Event
  Friday, May 15
  10:30 a.m.
  Media check-in: 10 a.m.
   
  Keel-Laying Ceremony
  Saturday, May 16
  11 a.m.
  Media check-in: 10:30 a.m.
   
Where: On Friday, media will park in designated spots in the second-shift area of Newport News Shipbuilding's North Yard parking lot (see directions below). 
   
  On Saturday, signs will direct media to park outside the 60th Street gate in the parking lot east of the Welding School. Media will be transported by bus to and from the site through the 60th Street gate. The event will be held outside the Supplemental Module Outfitting Facility (SMOF). 
   
RSVP:  Confirmation of attendance is required. Please RSVP by noon on Thursday, May 14. You must present a photo ID and be a U.S. citizen to be admitted to the event. Please RSVP to:
   
  Christie Miller, Huntington Ingalls Industries
  (757) 380-3581 
  Christine.Miller@hii-co.com

Please note that because this is an industrial setting, long pants, shirts with sleeves covering shoulders and flat, sturdy, closed-toe shoes are required attire.

HII will use #ssn789 as the social media hashtag for this event.

A webcast of the event will be provided at http://huntingtoningalls.com/ssn789/. A live, multi-camera satellite broadcast of the event also will be provided. Satellite information is as follows:

Satellite: Galaxy 17 (91 degrees west)
Transponder: Ku Digital 18K lower (18mhz)
Downlink Frequency: 12051.0 Mhz
Polarity: Vertical 
FEC: 3/4
Symbol Rate: 14.385617 Mbps
DVBS, QPSK Transmission, 4:2:0, 1080i

Window: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday, May 16                                    

Directions to Media Parking:

  • From I-64 (either westbound or eastbound)
  • Take Exit #264 to Interstate I-664 toward Downtown Newport News/ Suffolk
  • Take Exit #5 (35th Street) to Warwick Blvd.
  • Travel approximately 3 miles on Warwick Blvd.
  • Immediately after 69th Street, make a U-turn on to Huntington Ave.
  • Merge into the right lane and continue to bear right on to Shipyard Drive
  • Continue downhill and follow signs to media parking

Huntington Ingalls Industries is America's largest military shipbuilding company and a provider of engineering, manufacturing and management services to the nuclear energy, oil and gas markets. For more than a century, HII's Newport News and Ingalls shipbuilding divisions in Virginia and Mississippi have built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII employs approximately 38,000 people operating both domestically and internationally. For more information, visit: