Thea Loise Woodward
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding division formally handed the Delbert D. Black guided missile destroyer over to the U.S. Navy during a signing ceremony held Friday at the company’s facility in Pascagoula, Miss.
The Arleigh Burke-class vessel is named for a U.S. Navy veteran who held the gunner’s mate designation and is set to leave the shipyard in August, HII said Friday.
Donny Dorsey, DDG 119 ship program manager at Ingalls Shipbuilding, signed the transfer of custody documents with Matthew McKenna, the prospective commanding officer for the vessel, and Peter Christman III of the DDG 51 Project Office.
Guided missile destroyers are equipped with maritime defense systems and designed to support air, surface and underwater combat missions.
“We are proud to deliver our 32nd state-of-the-art destroyer to the Navy,†said Brian Cuccias, an HII executive vice president and president of Ingalls Shipbuilding.
Four more destroyers are currently in the construction phase at the Pascagoula shipyard.
