General Dynamics Christens Submarine Illinois (SSN 786)

(RTTNews) - General Dynamics Electric Boat christened the Illinois (SSN 786), the 13th submarine of the U.S. Navy's Virginia Class. Electric Boat is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (GD). Construction on the submarine began in 2011. It is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2016.

The Saturday morning christening ceremony took place at Electric Boat's Groton shipyard with the Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus as the ceremony's principal speaker.

First lady Michelle Obama christened a Navy submarine at a Connecticut shipyard, taking three whacks to break a bottle of champagne against the hull of the USS Illinois and thanking military families for their sacrifice.

"We are honored to have the First Lady as our sponsor," said Electric Boat President Jeffrey Geiger. "I'm proud to show her that this submarine is the embodiment of our team, whose innovation, ingenuity and unrelenting work ethic is unmatched."