The U.S. Navy has christened its newest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), during a ceremony on Saturday, Jun. 22, at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works.

The future USS Daniel Inouye is named in honour of Daniel Inouye, who served as a United States Senator for Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. He received the Medal of Honor June 21, 2000, for his extraordinary heroism in action while serving with the 442nd Infantry Regiment Combat Team in Italy during World War II. During an assault on April 21, 1945, an exploding grenade shattered his right arm; despite the intense pain, he refused evacuation. He remained at the head of his platoon until they broke the enemy resistance and his men deployed in defensive positions, continuing to fight until the regiment’s position was secured.

The Daniel Inouye is 509.5 feet long and 59 feet wide, with a displacement of 9,496 tons. She will be homeported in Pearl Harbor.

The future USS Daniel Inouye is the 68th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and is one of 21 ships currently under contract for the DDG 51 program. The ship is configured as a Flight IIA destroyer, which enables power projection and delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability for anti-air warfare.

These DDGs provide a wide range of warfighting capabilities in multi-threat air, surface, and subsurface environments. The ship’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense radar will provide increased computing power and radar upgrades that improve detection and reaction capabilities against modern air warfare threats, as well as ballistic missile defense.

The Aegis Combat System will enable the ship to link radars with other ships and aircraft to provide a composite picture of the battle space, and effectively increase the theater space. New ships in this class have anti-ballistic missile capabilities as well. The DDG’s all-steel construction provides a survivable platform.