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A new Virginia-class submarine is under construction in Newport News, Va., to be named the U.S.S. Minnesota.

It's been a long time coming - the Navy signed a contract for the boat eight years ago and the sub was designated the Minnesota in 2008. At right is a picture of the keel laying in May, courtesy of Huntington Ingalls Industries, the company building the boat.

Nuclear powered fast attack subs generally don't visit the Great Lakes or come up the Mississippi. But the boat is coming to Minnesota -- after a fashion, The Navy League is kicking off a contest next week to design a logo for the sub.

The ship's commander and some crew are coming to the Twin Cities on Monday to launch the logo contest. College and high school students will be eligible to design the symbol for the boat, to take to the water in 2013.

The logo contest is open to students 16 to 22 years old, and runs until Nov. 1, 2011. It will be part of the ship for its career, usually decades. The winning designer -- selected by crew members -- will win a free trip to the ship's commissioning, as well as a $1,500 college scholarship.

You can find out more about it at www.ussminnesota.org.

Tim Nelson

Author

The Navy League is kicking off a contest next week to design a logo for the sub.

Contest to design logo for nuclear sub U.S.S. Minnesota

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