Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division has officially delivered the US Navy’s future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123).
Delivered on 30 November, the new milestone signifies the formal transfer of DDG 123 from the shipbuilder to the US Navy.
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Earlier in October, the USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee completed a series of at-sea and pier-side trials, examined by the navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey.
The acceptance tests were conducted to assess the vessel’s on-board systems and to validate its overall operational readiness.
Programme Executive Office Ships DDG 51 class programme manager captain Seth Miller said: “The programme is proud to lead construction and delivery of Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee.
“Our industry partners have delivered another highly capable ship that will provide our sailors and nation with warfighting lethality for decades to come.
“The delivery of this ship comes at a critical time to the nation and will further strengthen navy’s surface fleet.”
DDG 123 has been named after US Navy’s former Nurse Corps superintendent Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee, the first woman to receive the Navy Cross.
The ship was officially christened in April last year.
The future USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee is a Flight IIA destroyer that features Aegis Combat System Baseline 9C2 to deliver enhanced electronic countermeasures capability, high firepower, as well as quick reaction time to counter a wide variety of threats.
It is the last Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer to be delivered in a Flight IIA configuration.
Ingalls Shipbuilding is also constructing other destroyers of the same class at its Pascagoula shipyard in Mississippi, US.
This includes Jack H Lucas (DDG 125), Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), and George M McNeal (DDG 131).
