November 6, 1999 — "Today, this
collection of metal, wiring, electronics and innovative technology will be christened with
the fighting spirit of a Navy hero," U.S. Representative Steven T. Kuykendall said
here this morning. "As we move into the 21st century, our world is a
dangerous place, and our military is faced with transforming itself for a new threat
environment."
Cong. Kuykendall, of California’s 36th Congressional District, delivered the principal address at the christening of a new U.S. Navy Aegis guided missile destroyer, LASSEN (DDG 82), at Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding. He told more than 1,000 guests, "We as a nation need to instill in our young people the kind of patriotism that motivated a young Lieutenant Lassen," said Kuykendall. "We need to remind our nation’s youth the price for this great country’s democracy is paid for in installments every time someone steps forward to serve."
The new ship is named for Commander Clyde Everett Lassen, USN (1942-1994), a native of Fort Myers, Florida, who earned the Congressional Medal of Honor for his courageous night rescue, while commander of a search and rescue helicopter, of two downed aviators in North Vietnam in June 1968.
Captain John W. Holtzclaw, USN (Ret.), now of Arlington, Virginia, who was the F-4 Phantom pilot plucked from a North Vietnamese rice paddy by Commander Lassen and his crew, recalled the daring rescue. "Clyde Lassen and his courageous crew were the epitome of the proper use of the term hero," he said. "They were on the front line -- committed to their dangerous mission. They demonstrated heroism and professionalism far above what would be called the normal call of duty. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen," he said, "for being here this morning to honor my hero."
Also on hand for Saturday’s christening were Captain Holtzclaw’s Radar Intercept Officer (RIO), Captain John A. Burns, USN (Ret.), now of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Bruce Dallas, of Murphysboro, Illinois, who was a member of Lassen’s helicopter crew and earned the Silver Star for his efforts in the rescue of the two aviators.
Admiral Donald L. Pilling, USN, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, praised the ship’s namesake, as the first Naval aviator to be awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in Vietnam. "Clyde Lassen and his crew never hesitated. He and his crew were all heroes and they were all the finest our great country and its proud heritage could produce to serve and support of our national security interest. Their story makes us proud to serve in the Navy...proud to be Americans."
Mrs. Linda Lassen, of Pensacola, Florida, christened the Aegis guided missile destroyer DDG 82 in honor of her late husband. She was joined by co-sponsor, Mrs. Barbara Pilling, wife of Admiral Pilling. Serving as Matrons of Honor were Mrs. Pilling’s daughters, Mrs. Jennifer Pilling Stopkey and Mrs. Kathleen Pilling Posivak. The ship’s Maid of Honor is Ms. Lynnell Marie Lassen, of Atlanta, Georgia, daughter of the ship’s namesake.
"This is an important day for the Lassen family, for the U.S. Navy, Ingalls Shipbuilding and all who have or will have a role in the life of this fine ship," said Vice Admiral Edward Moore Jr., USN, Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet. "The legacy of USS LASSEN begins today and what a legacy it will be to live up to its namesake, Commander Clyde Lassen. I can think of no better advice to give to the crew and future crew of LASSEN than to follow the example of a naval aviator who performed his heroic feat with all the passion and courage he could muster, and did it without hesitation."
"We thank Commander Lassen and his crew for demonstrating the courage and devotion to duty that enabled the rescued air crew to be with us here today," said Jerry St. Pé, Chief Operating Officer of Litton Ship Systems and Litton Industries Executive Vice President. Speaking of Litton’s recent acquisition of Avondale Industries in metro New Orleans, which resulted in the formation of Litton Ship Systems to merge Ingalls and Avondale, St. Pé said, "The vision and the goal of Litton Ship Systems are not merely to manage and bring together two shipyards, but to combine our shipbuilding processes in a matter that provides to the U.S. Navy Fleet a true full service contractor. Through these processes, we will provide the fleet and its sailors all the services in a timely way, focusing on quality and lowest life-cycle cost."
Aegis destroyers are equipped to conduct a variety of missions, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, in support of national military strategy. The ships operate with battle groups in high-threat environments and also provide essential escort capabilities to Navy and Marine Corps amphibious forces, combat logistics ships and convoys. "This ship will represent the strength of our nation as well as one of nation’s heroes in Clyde Lassen," said Rear Admiral Paul S. Schultz, USN, Deputy Director, Surface Warfare Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. "Today we christen LASSEN, the latest in a class of fighting ships, which has already become permanently recognized as the most sophisticated and technologically advanced fighting system our nation’s military-industrial team can produce. Certainly this ship will soon be, pound-for-pound, the most formidable fighting ship in the world. I commend the diligent and hard work of all who helped bring the LASSEN to this point and I urge you to continue the good efforts to bring this ship to life."
"I would like to thank all the people in the U.S. Navy who work diligently everyday together with their partners at this wonderful shipyard to bring these magnificent warships to our taxpayers," said Rear Admiral William W. Cobb Jr., USN, Program Executive Officer for Theater Air Defense and Surface Combatants, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (RD&A). "From the ranks of the sailors who take these ships to sea, will come heroes like Clyde Lassen who will defend their country, and who will not fail. We should be proud of each and every one of them."
Truly multimission combatants, Aegis destroyers provide primary protection for the Navy's battle forces, and are also the most balanced surface warships ever built, equipped with the weapons, electronics, helicopter support facilities, and propulsion, auxiliary and survivability systems to carry out the U.S. Navy's missions today, and into the next century.
"This is a fine day to be on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and a wonderful day to name a front-line surface combatant after one of our nation’s heroes and Congressional Medal of Honor recipients," said Captain Harry J. Rucker Jr., USN, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Pascagoula. "Over two million manhours of work have been accomplished to get DDG 82 to this stage of construction and one million more manhours remain to get her into the fleet next summer. Regardless of where LASSEN sails in the next half century, her success is rooted in the men and women who designed and built her."
DDG 82 is 509.5 feet long, with a beam of 66 feet. Four gas turbine engines will power the 9,238-ton ship to speeds in excess of 30 knots. The new ship’s prospective commanding officer, Commander Sean E. O’Connor, USN, and two dozen members of the ship’s precommissioning crew, attended DDG 82's christening. When commissioned in mid-2001, the new ship and her full crew of approximately 340 officers, chiefs and sailors, will join the U.S. Pacific Fleet, homeported in San Diego, California.
"Ingalls-built combatants, represented by LASSEN, engender the absolute best the industry has to offer," said Pat Keene, President of Litton Ingalls Shipbuilding. "These ships are optimized by experienced ship designers and engineers, produced by master craftsmen, and backed by a global network of Fleet support offices at every homeport across the nation and the world. Each of us, as Litton Ingalls employees, commits to our country and to our Naval forces to fully support the U.S. Navy, in every way possible, in its very difficult mission of building the Navy Fleet the country needs to meet its Forward Presence doctrine in the most affordable manner possible."
Lead shipbuilder for five of the Navy’s most advanced surface combatant programs, Ingalls has delivered 77 major surface warships into the Navy's Fleet since 1975, a significant portion of the surface combatants delivered during the period. The Litton Ship Systems (LSS) organization, which includes Ingalls and Litton Avondale Industries in metro New Orleans, Louisiana, has combined revenues of approximately $1.8 billion in the shipbuilding and ship modernization market. With its 17,000 employees, LSS is one of the nation’s leading full service systems companies for the design, engineering, construction, and life cycle support of major combatant vessels for the U.S. Navy, international navies and commercial customers. Litton Industries, headquartered in Woodland Hills, California, is also a leader in worldwide technology markets for advanced defense, electronic and information systems.