A future Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer will be named in honor of the late Sen. Ted Stevens, a World War Two Army Air Corps pilot who went on to represent Alaska in the U.S. Senate from 1968 to 2009, Secretary of the Navy Richard V, Spector said on Jan. 4.
The Arleigh-Burke-class of destroyers is one of the toughest and most capable war fighting tools our nation produces, characteristics which also define my dear friend,” said Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.
Stevens flew missions behind enemy lines in the Pacific Theater during World War Two, in support of the Flying Tigers. He earned the distinguished Flying Cross, the Yuan Hai Medal, and the Air Medal for his bravery as an Army Air Corps pilot, noted Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska.
Stevens and others on board died on Aug. 9, 2010, in the crash of a de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter while flying from a private fishing lodge in Bristol Bay to a fishing site.
The future USS Ted Stevens will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously, and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems designed to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities.
The ship is to be constructed at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls shipbuilding division in Pascagoula, Miss. It will be 509 feet long, with a beam length of 59 feet, ad capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.
