Scott Nicholas
Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ Ingalls Shipbuilding division on Saturday deployed the 31st Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer the company built for the U.S. Navy.
The company said Wednesday it transported the USS Paul Ignatius to a floating dry dock using Ingall Shipbuilding’s rail car system, then moved the dock away from the pier and ballasted the structure to float the ship.
The vessel is named after the Navy’s top civilian official from 1967 to 1969.
Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said the DDG 51 program aims to provide the Navy with warships to serve the nation and the launch of the latest Arleigh Burke-class destroyer supports the military branch’s efforts toward fleet readiness by 2018.
The company currently builds the John Finn, Ralph Johnson, Delbert D. Black and Frank E. Petersen Jr. destroyers and expects to begin construction of Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee in the second quarter of 2017.
