Des Moines, Iowa — A bill just starting to navigate its way through the Iowa legislature would provide 200-thousand dollars in state tax money to support the commissioning of a Navy submarine bearing the state’s name.
The USS Iowa is a nuclear powered submarine that’s under construction in Connecticut. Captain Quintin James, commander of the USS Iowa, spoke to legislators this week.
Once the USS Iowa is in service, it will spend most of its time three stories below the surface of the world’s oceans.
Some of the 135 crew members assigned to the USS Iowa started visiting the state in 2019 and a few spent this past Thanksgiving in Iowa with host families. State Representative Todd Prichard of Charles City is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, however his dad and two uncles served in the Navy and Prichard notes this will be the fourth U.S. Navy vessel to be christened the USS Iowa.
Prichard was a member of the House subcommittee that gave initial approval to spending 200-thousand dollars in state money on the USS Iowa. Private fundraising is underway as well to raise more than twice that much. The state and private funds will be used to outfit the USS Iowa with some Iowa-themed furnishings and support the formal ceremonies surrounding its launch later this year.
