The keel of the future USS John Basilone (DDG-122) was ceremoniously laid at General Dynamics (GD) Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipyard, January 10.
Speakers at the ceremony included Captain Seth Miller, DDG-51 class program manager, Diane Hawkins, niece of the ship’s namesake, and the ship’s sponsors, Amy Looney and Ryan Manion.
The ship’s sponsors authenticated the keel by etching their initials into the keel plate, a tradition that symbolically recognizes the joining ofmodular components and the ceremonial beginning of the ship.
«It’s an honor to celebrate this milestone with Ms. Looney, Ms. Manion, and members of the Basilone family», said Miller. «Laying the keel for our nation’s 72nd Arleigh Burke destroyer, and building a ship named for a man who embodied the spirit of commitment and strength, this is a truly special occasion».
The ship’s namesake was a United States Marine Corps gunnery sergeant who was killed in action during the Battle of Iwo Jima in WWII. Basilone received the Medal of Honor for heroism displayed in the Battle of Guadalcanal in 1942, and for conspicuous gallantry displayed in the Battle of Iwo Jima, after he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse and led a Marine tank under fire safely through a minefield.
Arleigh Burke class destroyers are multi-mission surface combatants that serve as integral assets in global maritime security, engaging in air, undersea, surface, strike and ballistic missile defense, as well as providing increased capabilities in Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), Command and Control (C2), and Anti-Surface Warfare (ASuW).
As a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the USS John Basilone (DDG-122) will employ the Aegis Baseline 9 Combat System, which includes Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) capability, delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and has increased electronic countermeasures capability for Anti-Air Warfare (AAW).
In addition to the USS John Basilone (DDG-122), BIW has four additional Arleigh Burke class destroyers under construction – USS Daniel Inouye (DDG-118), USS Carl M. Levin (DDG-120), USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG-124) and USS Patrick Gallagher (DDG-127), as well as the Zumwalt class destroyer USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002). BIW is under contract for an additional six Arleigh Burke class destroyers that will all be constructed in the Flight III configuration with enhanced Air and Missile Defense (AMD) capabilities.
As one of the Defense Department’s largest acquisition organizations, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships is responsible for executing the development and procurement of all destroyers, amphibious ships, special mission and support ships, boats and craft.
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 (Lockheed Martin)/AN/SPY-6 Air and Missile Defense Radar (Raytheon Company) 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 96 Standard, Vertical Launch ASROC (Anti-Submarine Rocket) & Tomahawk ASM (Air-to-Surface Missile)/LAM (Loitering Attack Missile); 5-in (127-mm)/54 (62) Mark-45 gun; 2 (1) CIWS (Close-In Weapon System); 2 Mark-32 triple 324-mm torpedo tubes for Mark-46 or Mark-50 ASW torpedos |
GUIDED MISSILE DESTROYERS LINEUP
Flight IIA: Technology Insertion
| Ship | Yard | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| DDG-116 Thomas Hudner | GDBIW | 04-23-17 | 12-01-18 | Mayport, Florida |
| DDG-117 Paul Ignatius | HIIIS | 11-12-16 | 07-27-19 | Mayport, Florida |
| DDG-118 Daniel Inouye | GDBIW | 10-27-19 | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii | |
| DDG-119 Delbert D. Black | HIIIS | 09-08-17 | ||
| DDG-120 Carl M. Levin | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-121 Frank E. Peterson Jr. | HIIIS | 07-13-18 | ||
| DDG-122 John Basilone | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-123 Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee | HIIIS | |||
| DDG-124 Harvey C. Barnum Jr. | GDBIW | |||
| DDG-127 Patrick Gallagher | GDBIW |