GROTON, Conn. — The naval legacy of the Beehive State will live on in the USS Utah, a fast-attack submarine set to be christened on Saturday.
Built at a cost of $3.5 billion, the Virginia-class submarine is the first U.S. Navy vessel to carry the state's name since the battleship USS Utah was sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack in December 1944.
Saturday's ceremony will be held at the General Dynamics Electric Boat Shipyard in Groton, Connecticut, as the submarine's co-sponsors, Mary Kaye Huntsman and Sharon Lee, perform the naval tradition of breaking a bottle of champagne across its bow.
Along with the name, the USS Utah will also carry the SSN-801 registry number, the same as the area code for the Salt Lake City area and much of northern Utah.
Construction of the USS Utah began in S