United States Senator Thad Cochran of
Mississippi, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, will deliver the
ceremony's principal address. At Port Canaveral, Florida
PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- USS PORTER (DDG 78), the newest in a series of advanced Aegis guided missile destroyers built for the U.S. Navy by Litton’s Ingalls Shipbuilding, will be commissioned on Saturday, March 20, 1999, in Port Canaveral, Florida.
United States Senator Thad Cochran of
Mississippi, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, will deliver the
ceremony's principal address.
Ship’s Sponsor Mrs. Garland Johnson, wife of the U.S. Chief of Naval Operations, will order USS PORTER's nearly 350 officers and enlisted personnel to their posts, giving the traditional order to "Man our ship and bring her to life!," in a triumphant conclusion to the ship’s stirringly patriotic commissioning ceremony at the Naval Ordnance Training Unit in Port Canaveral. More than 4,000 invited guests are expected to be in attendance.
The Sponsor’s husband, Admiral Jay L. Johnson, USN, Chief of Naval Operations, will place USS PORTER in commission for U.S. Atlantic Fleet duty. Following commissioning, the ship will be homeported in Norfolk, Virginia.
DDG 78 is named to honor the heroic service of a father and son, Commodore David Porter (1780-1843), and his son, Vice Admiral David Dixon Porter (1813-1891), whose combined legendary naval exploits earned them a place of honor in U.S. Navy history. Commander Kenneth V. Spiro Jr., USN, a native of Hopewell Junction, New York, and a 1981 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, is now in command of the 505-foot, 8,850-ton destroyer.
Other commissioning speakers will include Vice Admiral Henry C. Giffin III, USN, Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet; Vice Admiral George P. Nanos, USN, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command; Rear Admiral Michael G. Mullen, USN, Director, Surface Warfare, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Rear Admiral William W. Cobb Jr., USN, Program Executive Officer, Theater Surface Combatants, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Research, Development & Acquisition; and Jerry St. Pe’, President of Ingalls Shipbuilding and Senior Vice President of Ingalls’ parent corporation, Litton Industries.
Commodore Porter, in command of the frigate ESSEX, achieved fame by capturing the first British warship during the War of 1812. He later served as a member of the Board of Navy Commissioners, before resigning his commission in 1826 to become Commander-in-Chief of the Mexican Navy. He died while serving as U.S. Minister of Turkey.
His son is considered one of the most colorful U.S. naval officers to ever command a squadron. He rose from the rank of Lieutenant to Rear Admiral in two years during the Civil War, fighting in more battles and earning more laurels than any other senior officer.
Four previous ships have borne the name PORTER into fleet service, including a steam torpedo boat (TB-6), which served from 1897-1912, and three destroyers, DDs 59, 356 and 800. Several veteran crewmembers from DD 356 and DD 800 will be on hand for DDG 78's commissioning.
USS PORTER is the 28th ship of the DDG 51 program, and the 12th to be built by Ingalls. Following USS PORTER, Ingalls has contracts and options to produce 13 additional Aegis destroyers, with four of those ships in various stages of production.
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. These multimission ships provide primary protection for the Navy's aircraft carriers and battle groups, as well as essential escort to Navy and Marine Corps amphibious forces, combat logistics ships and convoys. Aegis destroyers are 505 feet long, with a beam of 66 feet. Four gas turbine engines power the destroyer to speeds in excess of 30 knots.
Construction of DDG 78 began at Ingalls on December 18, 1995. The ship's keel was laid on December 2, 1996. DDG 78 was launched on November 12, 1997, and sailed into the Gulf of Mexico for her first sea trials on November 2, 1998. The ship was delivered to the Navy by Ingalls on January 11, 1999.
Aegis destroyers are equipped with the Navy’s modern Aegis combat weapons systems, which combines space-age communication, radar and weapons technologies in a single platform for unlimited mission flexibility.
DDG 78 carries Tomahawk Cruise missiles, as well as Standard missiles to intercept hostile aircraft and missiles at extended ranges. Both Tomahawk and Standard missiles are launched from forward and aft Vertical Launching Systems (VLS). DDG 78 is also equipped with the Phalanx Close-In Weapons System (CIWS) and Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles, which havea range in excess of 65 nautical miles and are fired from standalone launchers.
USS PORTER's multimission 5"/54 caliber gun can be used as an anti-ship weapon, close-in point defense or in support of forces ashore with naval surface fire support. Its undersea warfare suite is the most advanced system in the world. The Tactical Towed-Array Sonar provides long range passive detection of enemy submarines. The hull-mounted sonar, can detect and track submarines actively and passively. DDG 78 features the over-the-horizon LAMPS MK III anti-submarine warfare control system, as well as the SH-60B Seahawk undersea warfare helicopter.
Ingalls Shipbuilding is one of the nation’s leading systems companies for the design, engineering, construction, and life cycle support of major combatant ships for the U.S. Navy and international navies, and for commercial marine structures of all types. Lead shipbuilder for five of the newest classes of Navy surface combatants, 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.
Litton Industries is also a leader in worldwide technology markets and advanced defense, electronic and information systems.