By Chief Mass Communication Specialist (SW/AW) Dean Lohmeyer, Commander Submarine Force Public Affairs The Virginia-class attack submarine USS Missouri (SSN 780) reached her first major milestone Sept. 27, during her keel authentication ceremony held at the General Dynamics Electric Boat facility in North Kingstown. Caesar S. DeSanto Sr. welded the initials of Rebecca W. Gates onto a plate of steel to symbolize the authentication of the keel. Gates, the wife of Secretary of Defense, Robert M. Gates, is the sponsor for Missouri, the seventh Virginia-class submarine to join the fleet. U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, was the principal speaker for the ceremony.