(Radio Iowa) – The U-S Navy submarine that’s named after the state of Iowa is back at port in Connecticut after its first test drives — and test dives — in the Atlantic Ocean. Mat Tanner, a retired Navy Chief submariner and executive director of the U-S-S Iowa Commissioning Committee, says the 377-foot long nuclear-powered submarine has completed both its Alpha and Bravo levels of testing. “Alpha trials is the initial underway for the submarine. That’s the very first time they take it out and dive it and test it and run it through its paces for a couple days,” Tanner says. “They come back in and go back out with a different test group for Bravo, and they test different systems out for six, seven days, and then come back in, make any repairs, and then they’ll go out for an in-service trial here in a couple of weeks, probably.”

Once those in-service trials are finished, likely in mid-December, Tanner says the Iowa will be “delivered” to the U-S Navy. “That means it’s in full custody of the government until their commissioning date, which will be sometime in the spring,” Tanner says “We haven’t released the date yet, but we’re trying to make sure we have everything ready to go for all the guests from Iowa that want to come see it. We want to make sure we have all the hotels and everything blocked off and ready to go.” Officials say the three-billion-dollar submarine will have a crew of 120 enlisted personnel and 14 officers. During these tests, there are military and civilian personnel onboard the Iowa.

USS Iowa (Photos from the Iowa Commissioning Committee)

“It’s a combination of both. So the full complement of the crew that’s stationed aboard, plus we’ll take out additional shipyard riders that are test engineers for specific equipment, and make sure there’s no issues, no problems,” Tanner says. “It’s still under our responsibility to make sure there’s no issues.” The submarine will become the fourth U-S Navy vessel to be named after the state of Iowa and Tanner says all appears on schedule for commissioning and the start of full-service military duty early next spring. “So far, so good, no major issues, no major delays,” he says. “It’s been a long time coming for the boat to get out to sea, and feels like everything’s going on track and looking good. We’re excited.”

Earlier plans suggested the submarine might be commissioned in the Pacific waters of southern California, beside the retired World War Two-era Battleship Iowa, which is now a floating museum in Los Angeles Harbor. The plan now calls for the sub to be commissioned instead at the shipyards in Connecticut.