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The U.S.S. Wisconsin, a new Columbia-class ballistic-missile submarine, had its keel laying ceremony on August 27th.

The Wisconsin is the second submarine in the Columbia-class, which will eventually replace the aging Ohio-class submarines.

The keel-laying ceremony, though symbolic in modern shipbuilding, marks the ceremonial birth of the submarine.

The Columbia-class submarines are the largest and most complex vessels ever built by the United States.

NORTH KINGSTOWN – With the time-honored, if not widely known, words, "I declare this keel to be well and truly laid," Kelly Geurts sealed her relationship as sponsor of the nation's newest ballistic-missile nuclear submarine, which will one day be known as the USS Wisconsin, in a ceremony Wednesday, Aug. 27.

The sh

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