Daniel Inouye (DDG 118)

Bath Iron Works (BIW) celebrated the start of fabrication of the future USS Daniel Inouye (DDG 118) during a ceremony at BIW shipyard, 31 October 2016. This first major ship milestone symbolizes that the first 100 tons of steel for the ship have been cut. "Construction on Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers is in full swing on the East and Gulf Coasts," said Capt. Mark Vandroff, DDG 51-class program manager, Program Executive Office (PEO) Ships. "The restart DDG 51s benefit from a mature and stable design with increased air and missile defense capabilities. These build on a legacy of success, providing outstanding combat capability and survivability characteristics." The ceremony came just a day after BIW ceremoniously laid the keel for the future USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115), and a month following the start of fabrication on the future USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

USS Daniel Inouye will be equipped with the Navy's Aegis Combat System, the world's foremost integrated naval weapon system. This system delivers quick reaction time, high firepower, and increased electronic countermeasures capability for anti-air warfare. The ship is part of the Navy's latest flight of destroyer, Flight IIA, which enables power projection, forward presence, and escort operations at sea in support of low intensity conflict/coastal and littoral offshore warfare as well as open-ocean conflict.

Daniel K. Inouye was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 7, 1924, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii, and his law degree from George Washington University. During World War II, Inouye served in the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Composed of soldiers of Japanese ancestry, the 442nd became one of the most decorated military units in U.S. history. For his combat heroism, which cost him his right arm, Inouye was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart with Cluster. He practiced law in Hawaii before entering territorial politics in 1954. When Hawaii became the 50th state, Inouye became one of its first representatives in the U.S. Congress, then won election to the U.S. Senate in 1962. Senator Inouye gained national distinction in the 1970s as a member of the Senate Watergate Committee and, in 1987, as chairman of the Senate Iran-Contra Committee. He was a long-time member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which he chaired from 2009 to 2012, and also served as the Senate’s president pro tempore from 2010 until his death in 2012. In 2013 Senator Inouye was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, becoming the first senator to receive both the Medal of Freedom and the Medal of Honor.