The U.S. Navy has commissioned its first submarine built to be “fully gender integrated,” Fox News reported Sunday.
The USS New Jersey was commissioned Saturday at a ceremony at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Middletown, New Jersey, according to the outlet.
Ceremony footage from the fast-attack Virginia-class submarine’s commissioning was shared on X by Navy veteran Glenn Mallo:
“You operate the most complex platform on the planet and you continuously strive for excellence,” Cmdr. Steve Halle told the submarine’s nearly 135-person crew in a speech. “I’m amazed and humbled at what we have accomplished.”
“Our superior professionalism is enhanced by our crew integration and our diversity,” Halle added. “We have exceeded expectations at every turn and overcome every obstacle set before us.”
Prior to the USS New Jersey, no other U.S. submarines had been designed to house women and men.
Then-Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates lifted the ban on women serving aboard submarines in 2010, after it was long believed that living quarters and a lack of privacy would make gender integration difficult.
“By 2030, the goal is to have 33 different crews integrated with officers across all platforms and all homeports,” a Navy press release from June 2021 states.
The new submarine has been outfitted with “adjustments” that have increased privacy in washrooms and sleeping areas and “improve[d] access to top bunks and overhead valves,” NorthJersey.com reported.