(Photo from Ingalls Shipbuilding)
Ingalls Shipbuilding announced that it had successfully launched future USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129) Tuesday, the third Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to be built at the shipyard.
The ship was transferred from land to the company’s dry dock using translation railcars to support the ship during the move. Once in the dry dock, the ship was floated and moved by tugboats to a pier at the shipyard.
“The launch of DDG 129 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our Ingalls shipbuilders and a collaborative achievement with our Navy partners,” Ingalls Shipbuilding DDG Program Manager Ben Barnett said in a statement. “The future USS Jeremiah Denton will now undergo final outfitting, systems activation, and testing before entering the fleet.”
DDG 129 is named for former U.S. Sen. 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.