The Arleigh Burke class of guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) is a United States Navy class of destroyer centered around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multi-function passive electronically scanned array radar. The class is named for Admiral Arleigh Burke, an American destroyer officer in World War II and later Chief of Naval Operations. With an overall length of 505 to 509.5 feet, displacement ranging from 8,300 to 9,700 tons, and weaponry including over 90 missiles, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are larger and more heavily armed than many previous classes of guided-missile cruisers.
Arleigh Albert Burke was an admiral of the United States Navy who distinguished himself during World War II and the Korean War, and who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations.
USS Arleigh Burke (DDG-51), named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN (1901–1996), is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988; launched on 16 September 1989; and commissioned on 4 July 1991.
USS Laboon (DDG-58) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for Father John Francis Laboon (1921–1988), a captain in the Chaplain Corps of the United States Navy, who was awarded the Silver Star during World War II while serving on the submarine USS Peto.
USS Pinckney (DDG-91) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for African American Ship's Cook First Class William Pinckney (1915–1976), who received the Navy Cross for his courageous rescue of a fellow crewmember on board the aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV-6) during the Battle of Santa Cruz.
USS Michael Murphy (DDG-112) is the 62nd ship of the Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyers in the United States Navy. She is named for Medal of Honor recipient Lieutenant Michael P. Murphy (1976–2005). Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during Operation Red Wings in Afghanistan in June 2005. He was the first sailor awarded the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. The ship's name was announced by Secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter on 7 May 2008. The ship was christened on 7 May 2011, Murphy's birthday, by her sponsor Maureen Murphy, Michael Murphy's mother. The ship is part of Destroyer Squadron 31 of Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific.
USS Ralph Johnson (DDG-114) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer of the United States Navy. Ralph Johnson is the 64th ship of the class and was commissioned on 24 March 2018.
USS John Finn (DDG-113) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in service with the United States Navy. The contract to build her was awarded to Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 15 June 2011. Ingalls has been a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) since its acquisition in April 2001. Prior to the award, Ingalls had constructed 28 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, the last one of which was USS William P. Lawrence. On 15 February 2011, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the ship's name to be John Finn after John William Finn, the first Medal of Honor recipient of World War II. He was so honored for machine-gunning Japanese warplanes for over two hours during the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor despite being shot in the foot and shoulder, and suffering numerous shrapnel wounds. He retired as a lieutenant after thirty years of service and died at age 100 in 2010.
USS Rafael Peralta (DDG-115) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. The destroyer can operate with a Carrier Strike Group (CSG), Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG), as an element of a Surface Action Group (SAG), or independently. The ship can conduct a variety of missions in support of national military strategy. From peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, 115 will be capable of carrying out Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD), Undersea Warfare (USW), Surface Warfare (SW), and Strike Warfare (STW) in multi-threat environments.
USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer. The $663 million contract to build her was awarded on 28 February 2012, to Bath Iron Works, of Bath, Maine. On 7 May 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the ship name would be named Thomas Hudner in honor of U.S. naval aviator Thomas Hudner, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in trying to save the life of his wingman, Ensign Jesse L. Brown, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, in the Korean War.
USS Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG-124) is a planned United States Navy Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer, the 74th overall for the class. She was named in honor of Harvey C. Barnum Jr., a retired United States Marine Corps officer who received the Medal of Honor for valor during the Vietnam War. Colonel Barnum served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy and as Acting Assistant Secretary of the Navy. In a press release from General Dynamics, the parent company of Bath Iron Works, it was announced that the United States Navy has awarded funding for the planning and construction of DDG-124, for the Fiscal Year 2016. The $644.3 million contract modification fully funds this ship, and was awarded as part of a multi-year competition for Arleigh Burke-class destroyers awarded in 2013. Harvey C. Barnum Jr. is expected to be commissioned in 2025.
USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) is a United States Navy Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer, the 73rd overall for the class. She is named for Chief Nurse Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (1874–1941), a pioneering Navy nurse who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War I, and the first woman to be awarded the Navy Cross.
USS John Basilone (DDG-122) is a Flight IIA Arleigh Burke–class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. The 72nd ship in the class, she is named for United States Marine Corps Gunnery sergeant John Basilone, who received the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military award for valor, for actions during the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific War. Basilone was the only enlisted Marine to receive both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross during World War II.
USS Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG-126) will be an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer of the United States Navy. She is the second of the Flight III variants and 76th overall in the class. She is named after U.S. Marine Corps General Louis H. Wilson Jr., recipient of the Medal of Honor. On 17 September 2016 she was named by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.
USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG-125) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, first of the Flight III variants and 75th overall in the class. She is named after then-Marine Corps Private First Class, later United States Army captain Jacklyn H. Lucas, recipient of the Medal of Honor. On 17 September 2016, she was named by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.
USS Patrick Gallagher (DDG-127) is a planned United States Navy Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer, the 77th overall for the class. She will be named for Lance Corporal Patrick Gallagher (1944–1967), an Irish-born Marine who earned the Navy Cross during the Vietnam War.
USS John E. Kilmer (DDG-134) is a planned Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy, the 84th overall for the class. The ship was authorized for construction by Bath Iron Works on 27 September 2018. On 16 October 2019, U.S. Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer announced that the ship will be named in honor of United States Navy Hospital corpsman John E. Kilmer, who was killed in the Battle of Bunker Hill during the Korean War and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in the battle.
Charles Jackson French was a United States Navy sailor known for his heroic actions in the Pacific Theater of World War II, where he saved fifteen of his shipmates after their high-speed transport was sunk in combat.
William Pinckney was a United States Navy sailor who was the second African American to be awarded the Navy Cross, the second-highest decoration for valor in combat after the Medal of Honor. Pinckney received the medal for saving the life of a fellow crew member on board the USS Enterprise (CV-6) during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Pinckney is named in his honor.
United States