Huntington Ingalls Industries‘ shipbuilding division hosted a christening ceremony Saturday for the U.S. Navy‘s future Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Delbert D. Black (DDG 119).
HII said Saturday approximately 1,200 people attended the event at the company’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi and Steven Giordano, master chief petty officer of the Navy, delivered the keynote address.
Ima Black, widow of World War II veteran Delbert D. Black, served as ship’s sponsor and broke a bottle of champagne across the destroyer’s bow as part of the ceremony.
DDG 119 will be equipped with multiple weapon systems that work to engage targets in tactical air, surface and subsurface missions.
To date, Ingalls Shipbuilding has built 29 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer ships for the Navy.