Nichols Martin
General Dynamics‘ Bath Iron Works subsidiary has laid the keel on the U.S. Navy‘s future Arleigh Burke-class destroyer ship that will be called USS Daniel Inouye.
The ship, designated as DDG 118, is named after the former senator who earned a Medal of Honor for his U.S. Army service during World War II, General Dynamics said Tuesday.
Irene Hirano Inouye, the late senator’s wife, served as DDG 118’s sponsor and struck welding arcs onto a commemorative steel plate at the ceremony.
Frank Wood, a Bath Iron Works welder, assisted Hirano in the keel authentication.
DDG 118 will be built with a 3,000-ton keel unit and is currently more than 50 percent complete, General Dynamics noted.
