On December 29th COLORADO reached another milestone as the boat became waterborne. Previously rolled out of the Construction Hall after the Christening Ceremony and into the dry dock, the “Float off” was conducted the day before New Year’s Eve. Prior to flooding the dock, the shipyard held another mini-christening ceremony, with a bottle of sparkling wine broken over the fillet, the curved portion of the hull joining the sail.

In earlier days of course, submarines slid down the ways into the water at Christening. The size of modern U.S. submarines however makes that no longer possible.

Here are pictures of the Roll Out and Float Off courtesy of Electric Boat