Robert Wittman News

Huntington Ingalls Industries (NYSE: HII) christened the 10th Virginia-class submarine, Minnesota (SSN 783), at the company's Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) division. The ship's sponsor, Ellen Roughead, performed the traditional honor of breaking a bottle of American sparkling wine across the submarine's hull. Roughead, a Minnesota native, is the wife of former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead. "Minnesota is the sum of all her parts," Mrs. Roughead said. "Everything and everyone who has contributed will be an ingredient in the spirit and the force that makes Minnesota.

The NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office will deploy a “smart buoy” at the mouth of the to take observations of the Bay's changing conditions. A part of the Chesapeake Bay Interpretive Buoy System (CBIBS), this is the fourth interpretative buoy to mark the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail. The buoy will be deployed off Stingray Point, near , to mark the 400th anniversary of Captain John Smith's exploration of the region. In July 1608, while using a sword to fish in shallow waters near the mouth of the , Smith was stung by a stingray and nearly died. The buoy collects weather, oceanographic and water-quality observations and transmits this data wirelessly in near-real time.