The US Navy has named its future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, DDG 133, in honour of former Georgia Senator Sam Nunn.
Senator Nunn represented Georgia for more than 20 years between 1972 and 1997.
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Nunn was part of the US Coast Guard from 1959 to 1960 and remained in the Coast Guard Reserve before his entry to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1968.
US Navy Secretary Richard Spencer said: “Senator Nunn’s impact on the Navy and Marine Corps team cannot be overstated.
“His leadership in the Senate, specifically as the long-serving chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, helped streamline the military chain of command and strengthen our Navy and Marine Corps team. I am pleased that Senator Nunn’s legacy of service to our nation will continue in the future USS Sam Nunn.”
Huntington Ingalls Industries will build the future USS Sam Nunn at its facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
The 509ft vessel will have a beam of 59ft and be able to travel at speeds of more than 30k.
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers (DDG 51), which replaced the Charles F Adams-class, are designed to perform a range of operations from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection.
The navy will deploy DDG 133 to fight air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously.
The vessel will be equipped with offensive and defensive weapons systems to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defence and vertical launch capabilities.
In December last year, the US Navy commissioned the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Thomas Hudner.
