Huntington Ingalls Industries’ [HII] Ingalls Shipbuilding officially started fabricating the future USS Ted Stevens
(DDG-128) Arleigh Burke-class destroyer on April 6, the company said Wednesday.
Start of fabrication is the signifier that the first 100 tons of steel for ship construction have been cut. Ingalls Shipbuilding is building the ship at its shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss.
“As we begin this important milestone in the construction of another great warship, we look forward to continuing production and carrying on the extraordinary legacy of the Navy destroyer fleet,” George Nungesser, Ingalls DDG-51 Program Manager, said in a statement.
The ship is named after former senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) who served as a pilot in World War II and represented Alaska until leaving office in 2009. At the time he left office, Stevens was the longest-serving Republican senator in history. He died in a small plane crash shortly after leaving the Senate.
Other destroyers currently under construction include the Delbert D. Black (DDG-119), Frank E. Peterson Jr. (DDG-121), Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) and Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125). DDG-125 will be the first Flight III variant destroyer.