BATH, Maine – On Monday, October 4, the U.S. Navy’s newest guided missile destroyer, Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) sailed away from General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. The ship will be commissioned in December at its home port in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Dirk Lesko, president of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, said: “We are proud to have delivered DDG 118 to the Navy last spring and to help prepare it for its important role in our nation’s security. The sail away marks an important milestone in our mission to deliver these sophisticated ships to the Navy.”
The ship is named for Sen. Daniel Inouye, who received the Medal of Honor for heroism in World War II as part of a regiment comprised of Japanese-American soldiers. When Hawaii achieved statehood in 1959, he served as Hawaii’s first congressman until being elected to the Senate in 1962. Sen. Inouye was the first Japanese American elected to both the House and Senate.
Bath Iron Works currently has under construction the Zumwalt-class destroyer Lyndon B. Johnson and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), John Basilone (DDG 122), Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124), Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127), Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126) and William Charette (DDG 130).
More information about General Dynamics Bath Iron Works can be found at www.gdbiw.com.
