The Navy commissioned its newest guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115), during a 10 a.m. PDT ceremony Saturday, July 29, at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.

The future USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) honors Marine Corps Sergeant Rafael Peralta, who was posthumously awarded the Navy Cross for actions during combat operations in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Peralta is credited with saving the lives of fellow Marines during the second battle of Fallujah in 2004.
General Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, delivered the ceremony’s principal address. Ms. Rosa Maria Peralta, Sergeant Peralta’s mother, served as the ship’s sponsor.
«This commissioning memorializes the life of Sgt. Rafael Peralta and marks the beginning of what will be decades of exceptional service for this ship», said the Honorable Sean Stackley, acting secretary of the U.S. Navy. «During Operation Iraqi Freedom, Sergeant Peralta acted heroically and sacrificed himself for his fellow Marines. He was proud to be an American, proud to be a Marine and we are proud to welcome USS Rafael Peralta to the fleet. I have no doubt the men and women who serve aboard Peralta will continue his legacy of service».
Rafael Peralta, the 64th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, will be able to conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection. The USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) will be capable of engaging in air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime warfare, including Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) capabilities.
The ship will be homeported at Naval Base San Diego.

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 (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: Restart
Ship | Yard | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
DDG-113 John Finn | HIIIS | 03-28-15 | 07-15-17 | Pearl Harbor, Hawaii |
DDG-114 Ralph Johnson | HIIIS | 12-12-15 | ||
DDG-115 Rafael Peralta | GDBIW | 10-31-15 | 07-29-2017 | San Diego, California |
