A Navy ship named after North Dakota hasn't sailed in 77 years, but an effort is under way to change that.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., announced Monday that former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, a native of Scranton and a Navy veteran, will serve as honorary chairman of the USS North Dakota Committee.

Dorgan said the group's mission is to persuade the seagoing service to christen a vessel after the state.

"Even though we're landlocked, many admirals from North Dakota have risen to positions of great prominence, and a lot of Navy veterans come from North Dakota," Dorgan said.

The state's congressional delegation last year met with the Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter to urge the military to name a new submarine after the state.

The Navy has since named submarines after three other states: Missouri, California and Mississippi.

Winter, in a letter to Dorgan, asked for a plan on how the state "would support the ship and crew if a submarine were to be named for North Dakota."

Winter said another submarine will be named this summer "and North Dakota will be given every consideration."

The USS North Dakota was commissioned as a battleship in 1910 and was a gunnery and engineering training ship during World War I, the Navy said. It was decommissioned in 1923 and sold for scrap in 1931.

South Central District Judge Robert Wefald, who also is a Navy veteran, said he and others have been trying since 1985 to have another ship named after the state.

"Right now, I have a feeling in my gut that everyone is onboard," Wefald said. "I think it's doable."

Wefald said North Dakota is not alone in having only one Navy ship named after it. Illinois, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah also share that distinction, he said. Every other state has had two or more ships named after them.

The Navy fleet currently has 28 ships named for states, Wefald said.

The Navy has named eight ships after Washington, seven for California, and five each for Mississippi and Missouri, Wefald said.

It's up to the Navy to name ships, though there are no set rules, Wefald said.

"Congress doesn't name ships - that's the exclusive province of the Navy." Wefald said. "It's alchemy only the Navy knows about."

Dorgan and Wefald said North Dakota residents would strongly support a namesake Navy ship. They say the campaign will depend on that support.

"We would be honored to have USS North Dakota out on the water," Dorgan said. "We would embrace the ship and consider it something of great importance to our state."