Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced on October 7, 2022 that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division completed acceptance trials for Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123).

«Completing a successful sea trial is always a significant accomplishment for our combined Ingalls and Navy team, and DDG-123 performed well», Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. «We are committed to this partnership and look forward to our next opportunity to demonstrate it during our next trial events for our first Flight III destroyer».

DDG 123 is the second destroyer to be named in honor of Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee, the first woman to receive the Navy Cross. Higbee joined the Navy in October 1908 as part of the newly established Navy Nurse Corps, a group of women who would become known as «The Sacred Twenty», and became the second superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps in January 1911.

Ingalls has built 33 destroyers for the U.S. Navy, with five currently under construction including DDG-123, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), USS Ted Stevens (DDG-128), USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129) and USS George M. Neal (DDG-131). DDG-123 will be the final Flight IIA destroyer Ingalls will deliver as the U.S. Navy transitions to Flight III destroyers.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships that can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States military strategy. Guided missile destroyers are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. These ships contain a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.

 

Ship Characteristics

 

Length Overall	510 feet/156 m
Beam – Waterline	59 feet/18 m
Draft	31 feet/9.5 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	12-08-21	Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
DDG-119 Delbert D. Black	HIIIS	09-08-17	09-26-20	Mayport, Florida
DDG-120 Carl M. Levin	GDBIW	05-16-21		Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
DDG-121 Frank E. Peterson Jr.	HIIIS	07-13-18	05-14-22	Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
DDG-122 John Basilone	GDBIW	06-12-22
DDG-123 Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee	HIIIS	01-27-20
DDG-124 Harvey C. Barnum Jr.	GDBIW
DDG-127 Patrick Gallagher	GDBIW