DDG 121 christening at Pascagoula

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Navy will christen the newest guided-missile destroyer, the future USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), on Oct. 6 at Huntington Ingalls' shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., according to a Defense Department media release. The ship is the first ship named in honor of Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Frank E. Petersen Jr., the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps officer promoted to brigadier general. When he retired in 1988 after 38 years of service, he was the senior-ranking aviator in the Marine Corps and Navy. Former Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen. Alfred Gray is the primary speaker. D’Arcy Neller, wife of Gen. Robert Neller, the current Commandant of the Marine Corps, and Dr. Alicia J. Petersen, widow of Frank E. Petersen Jr., will serve as ship’s sponsors. The future Frank E. Petersen Jr. will be the 71st Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, and is the fifth of 21 ships currently under contract for the DDG 51 program. The ship will be configured as a Flight IIA destroyer, which enables power projection, forward presence, and escort operations at sea in support of low-intensity conflict/coastal and littoral offshore warfare, as well as open ocean conflict. (Source: Seapower Magazine 10/04/18)