The keel of the future USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) was authenticated during a ceremony at the Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard November 16. The ship’s keel was authenticated by Ms. Barbara Miller, wife of the former superintendent of the Naval Academy, Vice Admiral Michael Miller. The authenticator etched her initials into the keel plate to symbolically recognize the joining of modular components and the ceremonial beginning of the ship.
«We are very honored to have the namesake of DDG-116, Captain Hudner and his family, here to witness this milestone ceremony», said Captain Mark Vandroff, DDG-51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. «These ships serve as a lasting reminder of the courage, leadership and intellectual contribution of the very best that the Navy-Marine Corps team has had to offer».
Medal of Honor recipient, Thomas Hudner, crash landed his plane in 1950 in an attempt to save the life of his wingman who was shot down by Chinese ground troops at the battle of Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War.
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) is the second of two Arleigh Burke class destroyers currently under construction at BIW. DDG-115, the future USS Rafael Peralta, was launched at BIW November 1.
As a Flight IIA ship, Thomas Hudner will be equipped with the Navy’s Aegis Combat System, the world’s foremost integrated naval weapon system. This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower and increased electronic countermeasures capability for Anti-Air Warfare. Arleigh Burke ships enable power projection, forward presence, and escort operations at sea in support of Low Intensity Conflict/Coastal and Littoral Offshore Warfare as well as open ocean conflict.
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) is so-called «technology insertion» destroyer. «Technology insertion» ships (DDG-116-123) are expected to incorporate certain elements of Arleigh Burke class Flight III, which in turn is planned to run from DDG-124 onwards.
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) started fabrication February 15, 2013, and will join the fleet in 2017 where she will serve as an integral player in global maritime security, engaging in air, undersea, surface, strike and ballistic missile defense.
As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, PEO Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships and special warfare craft.
Ship Characteristics
| Length Overall | 510 feet/156 m |
| Beam – Waterline | 59 feet/18 m |
| Draft | 30.5 feet/9.3 m |
| Displacement – Full Load | 9,217 tons/9,363 metric tons |
| Power Plant | 4 General electric LM 2500-30 gas turbines; 2 shafts; 2 CRP (Contra-Rotating) propellers; 100,000 shaft horsepower/75,000 kW |
| Speed | in excess of 30 knots/34.5 mph/55.5 km/h |
| Range | 4,400 NM/8,149 km at 20 knots/23 mph/37 km/h |
| Crew | 380 total: 32 Officers, 27 CPO (Chief Petty Officer), 321 OEM |
| Surveillance | SPY-1D Phased Array Radar and Aegis Combat System (Lockheed Martin); SPS-73(V) Navigation; SPS-67(V)3 Surface Search; 3 SPG-62 Illuminator; SQQ-89(V)6 sonar incorporating SQS-53C hull mounted and SQR-19 towed array sonars used with Mark-116 Mod 7 ASW fire control system |
| Electronics/Countermeasures | SLQ-32(V)3; Mark-53 Mod 0 Decoy System; Mark-234 Decoy System; SLQ-25A Torpedo Decoy; SLQ-39 Surface Decoy; URN-25 TACAN; UPX-29 IFF System; Kollmorgen Mark-46 Mod 1 Electro-Optical Director |
| Aircraft | 2 embarked SH-60 helicopters ASW operations; RAST (Recovery Assist, Secure and Traverse) |
| Armament | 2 Mark-41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) with 90 Standard, Vertical Launch ASROC (Anti-Submarine Rocket) & Tomahawk ASM (Air-to-Surface Missile)/LAM (Loitering Attack Missile); 5-in (127-mm)/54 Mark-45 gun; 2 CIWS (Close-In Weapon System); 2 Mark-32 triple 324-mm torpedo tubes for Mark-46 or Mark-50 ASW torpedos |
Flight IIA: Technology Insertion
| Ship | Yard | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| DDG-116 Thomas Hudner | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-117 Paul Ignatius | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-118 Daniel Inouye | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-119 Delbert D. Black | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-120 | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-121 | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-122 | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-123 | HIIIS |
GDBIW – General Dynamics Bath Iron Works
HIIIS – Huntington Ingalls Industries Ingalls Shipbuilding
DDG – Destroyer, Guided Missile