A keel laying ceremony was held on Wednesday for USS Wisconsin SSBN 827 in North Kingstown, Rhode Island.
The event on Wednesday marked the official beginning of construction for the U.S. Navy's latest ballistic missile submarine.
Keeping with Navy tradition, Dr. Kelly Geurts, Honorary Board Director and Ship’s Sponsor, authenticated the keel by welding her initials onto a steel plate, signifying the keel has been "truly fairly laid."
Grace Stanke, Miss America 2023, Miss Wisconsin 2022 and Honorary USS Wisconsin SSBN 827 Association Board Director, read Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers’ Proclamation of Aug. 27, 2025 as “USS WISCONSIN SSBN 827 Day” at the Keel Laying ceremony.
It will be the third ship bearing the name Wisconsin, going back to the 1800s, but the previous ships were battleships, not submarines.
"They really share that same mission of what we used to call battleship diplomacy or deterrent. Our stuff's bigger and badder than yours," said Nate Sandel, the Director of Education and Community Engagement at Nauticus. Nauticus operates the Battleship Wisconsin which is now a museum in Norfolk, Virginia.
Mike Zitzer served on the second USS Wisconsin Battleship during the Gulf War.
He views his time on the ship as a core part of who he is.
"Once a battleship sailor, always a battleship sailor," he says.
He says seeing the name continue is exciting for him as a new crew carries on the ship's legacy.
"Those guys are the next generation to carry on the Wisconsin traditions. We wish those guys well and hopefully they carry on our Wisconsin heritage the same way we did," said Zitzer.
But he's not crazy about the type of ship the name was given to.
"Once they commission that submarine, you'll never see it, you just won't. It's the way the nuclear triad works. I'll never badmouth them, but the [USS] Wisconsin will always be a battleship to me, not a submarine.
"There's a long tradition in the U.S. Navy of naming ships a second time, a third time," said Sandel.
"I take a lot of pride, and especially hope that Wisconsinites take a lot of pride, that the USS Wisconsin will always be known as the biggest and the baddest in the U.S. Navy."
