Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division delivered the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) to the U.S. Navy on December 1, 2022. Delivery of DDG-123 represents the official transfer of the ship from the shipbuilder to the U.S. Navy.

«Delivering an incredibly capable finished ship to the U.S. Navy is always an important event for our Ingalls team», said Kari Wilkinson, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding. «We are absolutely committed to the work that we do for our customers, communities and country».

USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) is the 34th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Ingalls has delivered to the U.S. Navy and will be the final Flight IIA ship built at Ingalls as the U.S. Navy transitions to Flight III destroyers. Ingalls currently has in production the future Arleigh Burke-class Flight III destroyers USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), USS Ted Stevens (DDG-128), USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129) and USS George M. Neal (DDG-131).

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 national defense 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.

DDG-123 is named to honor Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee, a Navy nurse and first woman to receive the Navy Cross for her heroic actions during World War I. 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. The ships motto truly reflects the heritage of this naval hero – Bellatrix illa, meaning «she is a warrior».

 

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