HII Laid Keel of Last DDG 51 Flight IIA Destroyer Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123)
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guided missile destroyer USS Lenah H Sutcliffe Higbee DDG 123
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division authenticated the keel of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) today. The ship is named in honor of the first woman to receive the Navy Cross. DDG 123 is the final ship in the Flight IIA series and the last of eight "Flight IIA Technology Insertion" Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
 
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Naval Industry News - USA
 
 
 
HII Laid Keel of Last DDG 51 Flight IIA Destroyer Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123)
 
Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division authenticated the keel of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123) today. The ship is named in honor of the first woman to receive the Navy Cross. DDG 123 is the final ship in the Flight IIA series and the last of eight "Flight IIA Technology Insertion" Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

"Technology Insertion" ships are fitted with elements from the future DDG 51 Flight III.
     
guided missile destroyer USS Lenah H Sutcliffe Higbee DDG 123Artist impression of the future USS Lenah H. Sutcliffe (DDG 123) the last of the Flight IIA Burke-class destroyers. US Navy image.
     
“It is always exciting to celebrate the keel authentication of another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said during a shipyard ceremony this morning. “The keel authentication is an important milestone in a ship’s life, as we lay the foundation upon which this great ship will be built. Like her namesake, DDG 123 will be strong and capable. Our men and women in the Navy—and Mrs. Higbee’s legacy—deserve nothing less.”

The ship is named in honor of Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee, the first woman to receive the Navy Cross. Higbee joined the U.S. Navy in October 1908 as part of the newly established Navy Nurse Corps, a group of women who would become known as “The Sacred Twenty,” and became the second superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps in January 1911.

DDG 123 will be the second ship named for Higbee. The first was a destroyer commissioned in 1945 and was the first U.S. Navy surface combatant named for a female member of the Navy. Higbee joined the Navy in October 1908 as part of the newly established Navy Nurse Corps, a group of women who would become known as “The Sacred Twenty,” and became the second superintendent of the Navy Nurse Corps in January 1911.

Ingalls has delivered 29 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the Navy. Other destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls include Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Paul Ignatius (DDG 117), Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) and Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121).

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships that can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States’ military strategy. DDGs are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. The ship contains myriad offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.