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The USS Hawaii pulled into the Pearl Harbor channel at 8:15 a.m. local time Thursday, with dignitaries and families of crew members welcoming the new Virginia-class submarine to its new home, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported.
Governor Linda Lingle, who christened the sub in May 2007 in Groton, CT, and Rear Admiral Douglas McAneny, commander of submarine forces in the Pacific, were onboard a torpedo retriever boat while family members rode on a small passenger boat to greet the incoming sub.
The sub, which was decorated with a large yellow lei, pulled into port for a 9:30 a.m. welcoming ceremony. Lingle was expected to board the Navy’s latest-generation attack submarine for a brief meeting with the crew before the arrival ceremony at Pearl Harbor’s submarine piers.
The $2.5 billion Hawaii is the first of three Virginia-class subs to be stationed here, to be followed by the USS Texas and USS North Carolina.