A new $2.6 billion submarine will be christened the USS Hawaii in Groton, Conn., today with a contingent from its namesake state — and expected home port — there to perform the honors.

The Hawaii is the newest and most advanced nuclear attack submarine, and the third ship of the Virginia class — the first Navy combatants designed for the post-Cold War era.

"The naming of USS Hawaii recognizes this rich legacy of Hawai'i," said U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, who will be the keynote speaker. "Since World War II, Hawai'i, on a per-capita basis, has had a significant portion of its men and women wear the uniform of the United States."

Inouye was one, losing his right arm to a German rifle grenade in Italy in 1944. He is a Medal of Honor recipient.

Gov. Linda Lingle, the ship's sponsor, will break a bottle of champagne over the 377-foot submarine, which is 17 feet longer than the Los Angeles-class submarines at Pearl Harbor. It has a crew of 134.

State adjutant Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Gary Roughead and Cmdr. David Solms, the Hawaii's skipper, are among those who also will be present.

The sub is expected to be commissioned in April or May 2007.

"I'm absolutely pleased to be the commanding officer of this newest and finest warship," Solms, 43, said in an interview with The Advertiser in April. "I'm equally pleased to represent the people of the great state of Hawai'i."

The eventual arrival of the 7,800-ton Hawaii — the first of up to three of the new subs expected at Pearl Harbor — comes as the Navy prepares to tilt the balance of nuclear submarines from the Atlantic to the Pacific to meet a changing threat.

With it will come a greater ability to deliver commandos close to shore, and ever more quietly counter the threat of foreign diesel submarines.

An earlier USS Hawaii was to be the third 27,500-ton Alaska-class large cruiser. A start-and-stop effort saw her launched in 1945 after the war, but further work was suspended in 1947.

General Dynamics Electric Boat delivered the first submarine of the current class, the USS Virginia, to the Navy in October 2004. With its construction partner Northrop Grumman, the company has contracts to build another nine Virginia-class subs. A total of 30 are planned.

The Hawaii has improved stealth, sophisticated surveillance capabilities and special-warfare enhancements. The sub has a topside lockout that can accommodate nine Navy SEALs, instead of two on Los Angeles-class subs.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.