Huntington Ingalls Industries announced recently that its Ingalls Shipbuilding division completed acceptance trials for Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123).
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are 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 U.S. military strategy. Guided missile destroyers are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. The ships contain a myriad of offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.
“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 in a statement announcing the completion of acceptance trials. “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, Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129) and George M. Neal (DDG 131). DDG 123 will be the final Flight IIA destroyer Ingalls will deliver as the Navy transitions to Flight III destroyers.
