The crew of Montana (SSN 794) has permanently affixed a steel plate – welded with former Secretary of the Interior and Ship’s Sponsor Sally Jewell’s initials – to the Virginia-class submarine.

The plate, welded by Montana-born Jacob McNulty (X18) during a May 2018 ceremony at Newport News Shipbuilding, signified the submarine’s keel had been “truly and fairly laid.”

Montana was christened in September 2020. Shipbuilders launched the submarine into the James River in 2021.