To comply with the limits imposed under the Five-Power Washington Naval Treaty, the low-mileage 22,000-ton early 12-inch-gunned dreadnought USS Delaware (Battleship No. 28), was decommissioned 10 November 1923 and promptly sold for scrap, just 13 years after she joined the fleet. Her crew was hot-transferred to the brand-new 33,000-ton/16-inch-gunned super-dreadnought, USS Colorado (BB-45).
Ex-USS Delaware (BB-28) in dry dock at the South Boston Annex, Boston Navy Yard, Massachusetts, on 30 January 1924. The ship has been stripped in preparation for scrapping. Note propellers, rudder, armor belt and heavy fouling on her underwater hull. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 54675
Fast forward nearly a full century and the Navy has a new Delaware for the first time since that dark winter of 1923/24.
The U.S. Navy commissioned USS Delaware (SSN 791), the 18th Virginia-class attack submarine, on Saturday, in a low-key ceremony due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
She is the 7th Delaware in the Navy’s history.
190830-N-N0101-155 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Aug. 30, 2019) The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Delaware (SSN 791) transits the Atlantic Ocean after departing Huntington Ingalls Industries Newport News Shipbuilding division during sea trials in August 2019. (U.S. Navy photo courtesy of HII by Ashley Cowan/Released)