COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — The USS Idaho, a modern nuclear submarine still under construction, is set to take to the seas in 2025. This week, members of the crew are touring the vessel’s namesake.
Specifically, they’re visiting destinations across the Idaho panhandle.
Petty Office Rober Boscan is from Hayden and fancies himself fortunate to be assigned to the submarine that shares his home state’s name.
“I got very lucky to be assigned to the USS Idaho,” Boscan said. “I’m happy to be part of the crew.”
In one of the USS Idaho crews’ stops in Idaho, Boscan was given his dolphin pin in a ceremony at the Super One Foods that his family owns in Hayden.
“That’s where I began as a person, I joined the workforce,” Boscan said. “Coming back and earning) my Dolphins is very important.”
The ship will be christened in 2024 and commissioned into U.S. Navy service in 2025. As part of the christening ceremony, the commissioning committee plans to honor Idaho.
“For this christening, we have collected water from all the waters around Idaho,” Commander Randall Leslie, part of the committee, said. “Traditionally it’s a champagne broken on the side of the submarine. It will be the waters of Idaho that are the first water to touch the hull.”
That’s not the only Idaho touch to make the submarine unique.
Former Idaho Governor and U.S. Secretary of State Dirk Kempthorne says he’s working hard to ensure the state is represented on board.
“This is the seventh time we have brought crewmembers here, but now they go home with a real sense of Idaho,” Kempthorne said. “We want it so when they step aboard their ship, the Idaho, there are scenes and elements of Idaho there as well.”
Idaho will be infused in the sub to make it feel like home. But for Boscan, home isn’t just a painting on the wall, it’s a way of life.
“When I have to carry the name the of the place I grew up and really honor the namesake,” Boscan said, “it means that I have to share the values I grew up with.”
