The US Navy has officially commissioned the USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128), a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.
The commissioning ceremony held at Whittier, Alaska, comes after the warship departed HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division in May towards its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia.
DDG 128 honors the late Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, a decorated World War II Army Air Corps veteran and longtime advocate for military modernization and Alaska statehood.
Senator Stevens’ wife, Catherine Ann Stevens, and their daughters Susan Stevens Covich and Lily Stevens Becker, serve as the ship’s sponsors.
“We are ready to answer our nation’s call. We are ready to defend freedom, whether the winds of war blow near the rugged coast of Alaska, or in the far reaches of the globe,” said US Navy Capt. Mary Katey Hayes, commanding officer of USS Ted Stevens, during the ceremony.
DDG 128
USS Ted Stevens is fitted with the AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar system and the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system, and features an enhanced electrical power distribution and expanded cooling capacity.
It is the second Flight III destroyer to enter active service after USS Jack H Lucas (DDG 125) was commissioned in October 2023.
DDG 128 will be deployed for several missions, including anti-submarine, anti-surface, and electronic warfare, alongside its primary integrated air and missile defense capabilities.
The US Navy is procuring Flight III destroyers from HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, with multiple ships in various stages of construction.