DDG 51 Class

Bath Iron Works has built more than half of the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke class Aegis destroyers. The longest-running post-WW2 program of surface combatants, the Burkes are the backbone of the Navy, guarding carrier task forces and carrying out a multiplicity of other duties worldwide.

Brief biographies of the namesakes of our DDG 51s can be found here.

  • USS ARLEIGH BURKE (DDG 51) - LAUNCHED SEPTEMBER 16, 1989

    Named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), it is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers.

  • USS JOHN PAUL JONES (DDG 53) - LAUNCHED OCTOBER 26, 1991

    John Paul Jones was selected as the Shock Trial platform for the DDG-51 class and was subjected to a series of close range explosions to test the survivability of the DDG-51 class in a shock environment.

  • USS JOHN S. MCCAIN (DDG 56) - LAUNCHED SEPTEMBER 26, 1992

    Originally named after John S. McCain, Sr., and John S. McCain, Jr.,both admirals in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Sen. John S. McCain III became an official namesake of the ship on July 11, 2018.

  • USS HOPPER (DDG 70) - LAUNCHED JANUARY 6, 1996

    Hopper is only the second U.S. Navy warship to be named for a woman from the Navy's own ranks.

  • USS HIGGINS (DDG 76) - LAUNCHED 4 OCTOBER 4, 1997

    The ship performed logistical support for United States Coast Guard helicopters undergoing relief operations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

  • USS OSCAR AUSTIN (DDG 79) - LAUNCHED NOVEMBER 7, 1998

    Oscar Austin is the first ship of the Flight IIA subclass of the Arleigh Burke-class. Compared to previous Burkes, Flight IIAs are longer, carry six more Vertical Launching System cells and have a hangar that can house two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters.

  • USS WINSTON S. CHURCHILL (DDG 81) - LAUNCHED APRIL 17, 1999

    It was the first destroyer named for a British citizen and is the only ship in the fleet to have a Royal Navy officer permanently assigned as part of the ship's company.

  • USS MCCAMPBELL (DDG 85) - LAUNCHED JULY 2, 2000

    Based in Japan, McCampbell was the first U.S. Navy vessel to come to the aid of victims of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake.

  • USS MASON (DDG 87) – LAUNCHED JUNE 23, 2001

    Mason is the last BIW ship to be launched on the inclined ways. The following BIW ship - Chaffee – was assembled on and launched from the Land Level Transfer Facility.

  • USS SAMPSON (DDG 102) - LAUNCHED SEPTEMBER 16, 2006

    On December 29, 2014, USS Sampson was dispatched to the Java Sea to search for Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 that disappeared the day before.

  • USS SPRUANCE (DDG 111) - LAUNCHED JUNE 6, 2010

    Spruance was the first of the U.S. Navy's destroyers to be fitted with the Gigabit Ethernet Data Multiplex System (GEDMS), which provides an IP-based backbone for video and data services on the ship. The bridge features touch screen controls instead of gauges.

Photos from Bath Iron Works and U.S. Navy