The US Navy has laid the keel of the 80th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer at the General Dynamics Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine.
The event saw the attachment of the ship’s modular components followed by the welding of the vessel sponsors’ initials into the keel plate.
The future USS William Charette (DDG 130) was named after a master chief hospital corpsman who received the Medal of Honor for valor during the Korean War.
At the ceremony, the keel was authenticated by US Navy Surgeon General and Bureau of Medicine Surgery Chief Rear Adm. Darin Via on behalf of his children.
“All of us in Navy Medicine are immensely proud to have a warship named after one of our own,” Via remarked.
“The future USS William Charette will not only be a symbol of American strength but also a testament to the courage and dedication of Navy corpsmen.”
“To have a ship named after a Navy corpsman is to hold to the maxim of ‘Corpsman Up!’ and embodies the ethos of courage, fidelity, and service before self.”
Arleigh Burke Program Manager Capt. Seth Miller highlighted that the DDG 130 hull “will be a welcome addition to the fleet and another player on the field to provide the Navy with the most advanced warfighting capability.”
“This ship honors the legacy of the late William Charette and his heroism during the Korean War,” he added. “We are honored to have his daughters as sponsors and for the entire family to celebrate this significant milestone.”
The US Navy’s Arleigh Burke Warship
The Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer is designed to sail independently or as part of large strike groups.
Following its debut in the 1980s, the ship has been offered in multiple configurations with each having anti-submarine, anti-air, and anti-surface capabilities.
The vessel’s latest iteration measures 155.3 meters (509.5 feet) and is powered by 105,000-horsepower engines for a top speed of 30 knots (56 kilometers/35 miles per hour) and a range of 4,400 nautical miles (5,063 miles/8,100 kilometers).
It is armed with lightweight guns, machine guns, torpedoes, laser weapons, and multi-domain missiles, and can carry over 350 personnel, rigid-hull inflatable boats, and up to two tactical helicopters.
