Kacey Roberts
HII’s Ingalls shipbuilding division has laid the keel of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer named after George Neal, a Korean war veteran and a U.S. Navy Cross awardee.
The namesake’s daughter, Kelley Neal Gray, sponsored the vessel’s keel authentication ceremony in Pascagoula, Mississippi, HII said Friday.
Commenting on the keel authentication, Ben Barnett, DDG-51 program manager at Ingalls, said, “Our ship namesake displayed the kind of courage and leadership that inspires us at Ingalls to have the same dedication to our mission.”
The war veteran is renowned for volunteering in the rescue of a Marine aviator in North Korea. Unfortunately, he was captured by enemies and held as a war prisoner until his release in 1952.
USS George M. Neal, the fourth Flight III destroyer that Ingalls built, is equipped with advanced air and missile defense capabilities such as the AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar and Aegis Baseline 10 combat system.
