US Navy christens guided-missile destroyer Jeremiah Denton

The US Navy and shipbuilder Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) christened the future USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), the third flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer to be built at HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding, in a ceremony in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on Saturday, June 28.

The ship’s name honours the late former US Senator and US Navy Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton Jr, a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism as a prisoner of war. Admiral Denton spent 34 years as a naval aviator, including eight years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Denton's daughters and ship's co-sponsors Madeleine Denton Doak and Mary Denton Lewis performed the bottle-breaking ceremony against DDG 129's bow to christen the destroyer during Saturday's ceremony.

As an Arleigh Burke-class flight III destroyer, the future Jeremiah Denton will feature the AN/SPY-6(V)1 air and missile defence radar and incorporate upgrades to the electrical power and cooling capacity plus additional associated changes to provide enhanced warfighting capability to the fleet.

The 513-foot (156-metre) destroyer will be powered by four GE LM2500 gas turbines that deliver a speed of 31 knots. Armament will include a 127mm naval gun, 25mm autocannons, a 20mm close-in weapon system, torpedoes, surface-to-air missiles, and land attack cruise missiles.