Newport News-Sponsor Susan Di Marco needs two bottles of sparkling wine to name the Navy’s next attack submarine, the USS New Jersey.

During the pandemic, the Newport News Shipyard personally baptized a warship for the first time, which gave us the opportunity to reflect on the challenging times and tide over the difficulties.

The ship is now officially named the Virginia-class submarine New Jersey, which means it is ready to be launched-as planned for delivery to the Navy next year.

"Let us remember our common strength," DiMarco told 1,800 sailors, shipyards and people from New Jersey who gathered behind Bay 4 of the modular equipment facility on a windy Saturday morning to celebrate.

Then, Jennifer Boykin, the president of the shipyard, shouted: "Let's name this Jersey girl!"

Christening began the final sprint for the shipyard and the submarine crew. There is still slightly less than 20% of the work to be completed, and a lot of testing is required before any warship can serve as an "U.S. ship."

Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mike Mullen, told the crowd: "The future battleship of the USS New Jersey will be a key, and some might say, the most critical arrow in our quiver."

He said: "We are facing an unprecedented opponent," and "recent events have brought us closer to the breakthrough point of American democracy", which is beyond his imagination.

New Jersey is the 23rd Virginia-class fast attack submarine and the 11th submarine delivered after the establishment of a unique partnership between Newport News Shipyard and General Dynamics Electric Shipyard in Connecticut. Newport News builds the bow, stern, sails, and nuclear propulsion parts, while the two-yard ship performs final assembly.

"I'm very happy to see the cooperation agreement work so smoothly," Mullen said, adding that the first few days of the agreement that now spans two decades are difficult.

"Challenging times often make people feel that time is stagnant... But milestones like today remind us that we are moving forward," Boykin said.

She added that despite the pandemic, shipbuilders and suppliers "remain focused on fulfilling our commitment to the U.S. Navy-this is moving forward." "The first Virginia-class submarine designed for male and female sailors is moving forward," she said. "New Jersey defines what it means to be made in the United States."

In the next few weeks, New Jersey will move into a floating dry dock and begin its final assembly work-approximately 56 sets of heavy railcar wheels are needed to move the 7,800-ton submarine from 960 feet to the dry dock in three days time.

Friday, Cmdr. Carlos Otero and Sergeant Chief Hamilton Felt conducted drills on their submarine.

"Last week, the scaffolding was still being erected, and there were pipes and pipes everywhere, like a life-sustaining patient," Felt said. "Now, she looks ready to be resurrected."

For Felt, seeing New Jersey get rid of the shackles of scaffolding and plumbing is a big deal. Since 2019, he has been in the shipyard, watching 4,000 shipyards turn steel into submarines.

"I have seen them piece the parts together to make the bow and stern," he said. These are the components of all Virginia-class submarines, along with sails and nuclear propulsion capsules, which Newport News built as part of its cooperation with General Dynamics Electric Shipyard in Connecticut.

"Then I saw them assembling everything here," he added. Newport News and electric boats alternately assemble Virginia-class submarines as part of their unique partnership. The New Jersey was assembled by the 11th Virginia-class submarine Newport News.

The Navy and Congress hope to speed up the production of Virginia-class submarines. This is a five-year production process. Two ships are delivered each year. Shipyard officials are already paying attention to Bay 4 to build another submarine.

The bay next to New Jersey is filled by the submarine Massachusetts—in fact, many of the second crew members of the foreman Patrick Veloso are already working there.

"It's a bit like an assembly line," said Veloso, a native of Newark, New Jersey. But after he and his teammates complete a specific job on a submarine, it may take several years before they have to do it again in the next queue, so it feels like it's really not like that.

"Everyone is different," said the veteran with 12 years of experience in submarine construction. "And I think each of us is getting better and better."

Nicholas Panagotopulos, a nuclear test engineer who joined the shipyard a year ago, is dedicated to some final complete system tests of the nuclear propulsion system, and recently also focused on Massachusetts.

But for this New Jersey native, working on a submarine named after his hometown is a big deal.

"When I was a kid, we used to go to Battleship New Jersey," he said. "This is a very monumental work. Now, I am embarking on another landmark work."

Dave Ress, 757-247-4535, dress@dailypress.com