Keel laid for DDG 121

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- The keel of future guided-missile destroyer USS Frank E. Petersen, Jr. (DDG 121) was ceremoniously laid Feb. 21 at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard. Although official construction of DDG 121 began April 2016, the keel laying symbolically recognizes the ceremonial beginning of the ship. Frank E. Petersen, Jr. was the first African-American aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general. When he retired in 1988 after 38 years of service, he was, by date of designation, the senior-ranking aviator in the Marine Corps and Navy. (Source: NNS, 02/21/17)