USS North Dakota SSN-784

 Scale 1:700 Brand Inizio (Score 5/10)

https://www.facebook.com/ericknnavas

https://www.instagram.com/ships_and_models_by_ericknavas/

USS North Dakota (SSN-784) is a Virginia-class nuclear powered attack submarine of the United States Navy. She is the second U.S. Navy vessel to be named for the U.S. state of North Dakota, the first being World War I-era battleship USS North Dakota (BB-29). The contract to build her was awarded to Electric Boat division of General Dynamics in Groton, Connecticut on 14 August 2003. Her name was announced on 15 July 2008. and her keel was laid down on 11 May 2012. She was floated on 15 September 2013 and was christened on 2 November 2013, sponsored by Katie Fowler, wife of Vice Admiral Jeff Fowler. She was commissioned in Groton, Connecticut on 25 October 2014.

North Dakota is the first of eight Virginia-class Block III boats. Approximately 20 percent of North Dakota was redesigned to lower acquisition cost and increase operational flexibility. The changes include a boat's bow redesign, replacing 12 individual launch tubes with two large-diameter Virginia Payload Tubes, each capable of launching six UGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of North Dakota on 29 August 2014, two days prior to her contract delivery date. The submarine successfully completed Alpha, Bravo, and Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) trials, which evaluate the submarine's seaworthiness and operational capabilities. During the trials, the crew took the submarine to test depth, conducted an emergency surfacing, and tested the submarine's propulsion plant. The U.S. Navy postponed North Dakota's original commissioning date of May 2014 because of quality issues with vendor-assembled and delivered components that required an unplanned dry-docking to correct. Additional design certification work was also required on the submarine's redesigned bow. North Dakota was commissioned on 25 October 2014 in Groton, Connecticut.

In January 2018, North Dakota experienced a medical emergency while at sea, when a petty officer attempted suicide using his service rifle to shoot himself in the chest. The boat dashed for port through rough weather and, by necessity, on the surface so medical advice to the corpsman could be given over communications channels. She met a tug near the mouth of the Thames River in New London, Connecticut to transfer the injured sailor to hospital. He survived the attempt and was last reported to be improving.