The keel of future guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr. (DDG 121) was ceremoniously laid Feb. 21 at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard.
Although official construction of DDG 121 began April 2016, the keel laying symbolically recognizes the ceremonial beginning of the ship.
The keel was said to be “fairly and truly laid” and was authenticated by D’Arcy Neller, the ship’s sponsor, and Donald Brabston, a master Ingalls shipbuilder.
“The keel laying is the symbolic first step in shaping our nation’s newest destroyer,” said Capt. Casey Moton, DDG 51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships.
“The ship will be a lasting tribute to Frank E. Petersen Jr., who made incredible contributions to naval and Marine Corps aviation, and DDG 121 will be an extremely capable destroyer for our Sailors.”
Frank E. Petersen, Jr. was the first African-American aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general.
In 1950, two years after President Harry S. Truman desegregated the armed forces, Petersen enlisted in the Navy.
In 1952, Petersen was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. He would go on to fly 350 combat missions during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
(Learn about Frank Petersen Jr., an American Hero. Courtesy of the American Veterans Center and YouTube)
He also went on to become the first African-American in the Marine Corps to command a fighter squadron, an air group and a major base.
Petersen retired from the Marine Corps in 1988 after 38 years of service. At the time of his retirement he was, by date of designation, the senior-ranking aviator in the Marine Corps and the United States Navy.
Petersen died last year at his home in Stevensville, Md., near Annapolis, at the age of 83.
DDG 121 will be built in the Flight IIA configuration with the Aegis Baseline 9 Combat System which includes integrated air and missile defense capability.
This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability for anti-air warfare.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMxgiH17sw0
(The Arleigh Burke class of guided-missile destroyers was designed as a gas turbine-powered replacement for the Coontz class missile destroyers and the Leahy- and Belknap- classes of missile cruisers. Courtesy of The World Military and YouTube)
DDG 121 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.
Construction began on the future USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121) April 27 at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., and the ship is expected to enter the Navy fleet in 2020.
These multi-mission surface combatants serve as integral assets in global maritime security, engaging in air, undersea, surface, strike and ballistic missile defense, as well as providing increased capabilities in anti-submarine warfare, command and control, and anti-surface warfare.
As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, and special warfare craft.
For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.
