Mabus announces two ship names

NOVEMBER 10, 2016 — In separate ceremonies yesterday Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced that the name of the next America-class amphibious assault ship will be USS Bougainville (LHA 8), while the the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, DDG 121, will be named USS Frank E. Petersen Jr.

Both ships are being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries Ingalls Shipbuilding Division in Pascagoula, MS.

LHA-8 will be the second ship to be named after Bougainville, an island in the northern Solomons, which was the location of a World War II campaign in 1943-1944 during which allies secured a strategic airfield from Japan. Success at Bougainville isolated all Japanese forces left in the Solomons.

DDG 121, will be named for Frank E. Petersen Jr., in honor of the Marine Corps lieutenant general who was the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general officer.

USS Bougainville is the first Flight I ship of the America class and will reincorporate a well deck to increase operational flexibility.

DDG 121 will be built in the Flight IIA configuration with the AEGIS Baseline 9 Combat System which includes Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) capability. This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower and increased electronic countermeasures capability for Anti-Air Warfare.