Joanna Crews
The U.S. Navy will conduct a christening ceremony for the future USS Delbert D. Black guided-missile destroyer at a Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The ceremony to be held Nov. 4 at the Ingalls Shipbuilding facility will feature World War II Navy veteran and ship namesake MCPON Delbert Black’s widow Ima Black as the ship’s sponsor, the Navy said Thursday.
DDG 119 will be the 69th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and operate in Flight IIA capacity for power projection, forward presence and at-sea escort operations.
The Navy added it will equip the ship with the Aegis Combat System and Cooperative Engagement Capability in an aim to enable radar linking for the fleet to generate an expanded picture of the theater of operations.
USS Delbert D. Black is the fifth of 13 ships constructed under the DDG 51 program contract and has four gas turbine engines to allow speeds of approximately 30 knots.
It is the first to be named after the Navy’s inaugural MCPON, who began his naval service in the spring of 1941 and climbed in the ranks to eventually serve as the service branch’s top enlisted member in 1967.
