Keel Laying Ceremony
Keel Laying Ceremony Countdown
The Keel Laying Ceremony for the future USS Wisconsin SSBN 827 will be held on her “hull number date”
August 27, 2025 (8 27)
The ceremony will be hosted by General Dynamics Electric Boat at their Quonset Point, RI facility.
We Need Your Help
To allow as many Wisconsinites as possible to experience this unique naval tradition, we will be hosting watch parties throughout the state where we will live stream the ceremony in real time. We need your help to determine where we should hold the watch parties. Please follow the link below to our online survey to let us know your watch party location preferences.
Check this page often for updates on Keel Laying activities.
The Keel Laying Ceremony
The Keel Laying Ceremony symbolizes when the ship begins to transition from design to reality by marking the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction.
In earlier times, the Keel Laying was the "laying down" of the central or main timber making up the backbone of a vessel. Today, fabrication of the ship may begin months before some of the ship's bottom may actually be joined. However, the Keel Laying Ceremony (also referred to as the Keel Authentication Ceremony) symbolically recognizes the joining of modular components and the ceremonial beginning of construction of a ship.
During the Keel Laying ceremony, the Ship’s Sponsor, Dr. Kelly Geurts, will authenticate the keel by chalking her initials onto a metal plate. The initials are then welded onto the plate which is permanently affixed to the ship at which point Dr. Geurts will proclaim the keel to be “truly and fairly laid”.