The keel for the future USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129), a Flight III Arleigh-Burke class destroyer was ceremonially laid at Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division, August 16.

The ship is named for former Senator Jeremiah Denton, Jr., a Vietnam War veteran who was awarded the Navy Cross for his heroism as a prisoner of war. Following his Navy career, he was elected to the U.S. Senate representing his home state of Alabama in 1980.

The contemporary keel laying ceremony represents the joining together of a ship’s modular components at the land level. The keel is authenticated with the ship sponsors’ initials etched into a ceremonial keel plate as part of the ceremony. Co-sponsors of DDG-129 are the daughters of the namesake, Madeline Denton Doak and Mary Denton Lewis.

«We are honored to build a ship named for the late Senator Denton and to have his family present to celebrate this important milestone on the path to delivering another Flight III destroyer to the Fleet», said Captain Seth Miller, DDG-51 class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. «The USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG-129) is the Navy’s next great warship, which will provide power projection with the latest advanced combat capability».

The DDG-51 Flight III upgrade is centered on the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and incorporates upgrades to the electrical power and cooling capacity plus additional associated changes to provide greatly enhanced warfighting capability to the fleet. Flight III is the latest Flight upgrade in the more than 30-year history of the class, building on the proud legacy of Flight I, II and IIA ships before it.

HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding is also in production on the future USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123), the future USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125), the future USS Ted Stevens (DDG-128) and the future USS George M. Neal (DDG-131).

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, sealift ships, support ships, boats and craft.

 

CHARACTERISTICS

Length Overall	510 feet/160 m
Beam – Waterline	66 feet/20 m
Draft	30.5 feet/9.3 m
Displacement – Full Load	9,700 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	AN/SPY-6 AESA 3D radar (Raytheon Company) and Aegis Combat System (Lockheed Martin); SPS-73(V)12 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)/62 Mark-45 gun; 2 (1) CIWS (Close-In Weapon System); 2 Mark-32 triple 324-mm torpedo tubes for Mark-46, Mark-50 ASW torpedoes or Mark 54 Lightweight Torpedo

 

Guided Missile Destroyers Lineup

 

Flight III

Ship	Yard	Launched	Commissioned	Homeport
DDG-125 Jack H. Lucas	HIIIS	06-04-21		San Diego, California
DDG-126 Louis H. Wilson, Jr.	GDBIW
DDG-128 Ted Stevens	HIIIS
DDG-129 Jeremiah Denton	HIIIS
DDG-130 William Charette	GDBIW
DDG-131 George M. Neal	HIIIS
DDG-132 Quentin Walsh	GDBIW
DDG-133 Sam Nunn	HIIIS
DDG-134 John E. Kilmer	GDBIW
DDG-135 Thad Cochran	HIIIS
DDG-136 Richard G. Lugar	GDBIW
DDG-137 John F. Lehman	HIIIS
DDG-138	GDBIW
DDG-139 Telesforo Trinidad	HIIIS