US Navy commissioning destroyer Paul Ignatius (DDG 117)

The US Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, the future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), is set to enter service in a ceremony at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on July 27.

Built in the Flight IIA configuration, the ship was launched in November 2016 and delivered in February 2019 after completing sea trials.

The destroyer is named in honor of Paul Robert Ignatius, who served in the US Navy during World War II, and later during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration as Assistant Secretary of Defense (Installations and Logistics) 1964-1967, and Secretary of the Navy 1967-1969.

“The future USS Paul Ignatius stands as proof of what the teamwork of all our people, civilian, contractor and military, can accomplish together,” said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. “From the start of the acquisition process, to the keel laying and christening, to today’s commissioning and the many missions she will fulfill going forward, this destroyer enhances our capabilities for air, undersea, surface, strike and ballistic missile defense.”

The future USS Paul Ignatius will be the 67th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and is one of 21 ships currently under contract for the DDG 51 program. DDG 51 class destroyers conduct a variety of missions from peacetime presence and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief to sea control and power projection.