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DDG 125 Jack H. Lucas

Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Jack H Lucas (DDG 125) commissioned at Tampa, Florida, 07 October 2024. The first Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), arrived at its new homeport in San Diego Oct. 25. On October 25, 2024 the 41st Surface Line Week (SLW) Pacific 2024 came to an end with an award ceremony where USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) was announced as the overall winner, Oct. 25. /p>

DDG 125 was constructed at Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi and is expected to enter the fleet in 2023. The first DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer to be built in the Flight III configuration, the future Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), was successfully launched at Huntington Ingalls Industries, Ingalls Shipbuilding division, 04 June 2021.

In a ceremony at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium 17 September 2016, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, DDG 125, will be named Jack H. Lucas in honor of the Marine Corps hero and Medal of Honor recipient. Mabus also announced that DDG 126 would be named Louis H. Wilson Jr. in honor of the 26th commandant of the Marine Corps who was also a Medal of Honor recipient.

During World War II, Lucas, then a private first class in the Marine Corps, received the Medal of Honor at age 17 for heroism above and beyond the call of duty during the Battle of Iwo Jima. During a close firefight with Japanese forces, Lucas saved the lives of three fellow Marines when, after two enemy hand-grenades were thrown into a U.S. trench, he placed himself on one grenade while simultaneously pulling the other under his body. One of the grenades did not explode; the other exploded but only injured Lucas due to the Marine's selfless actions. Lucas is the youngest Marine and the youngest service member in World War II to receive the Medal of Honor.

DDG 125 is the first ship to be named for Jack H. Lucas.

DDG 125 and 126 are the eighth and ninth ships Mabus has named honoring Medal of Honor recipients. Others include John Finn (DDG 113), Ralph Johnson (DDG 114), Thomas Hudner (DDG 116), Daniel Inouye (DDG 118), Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124), John Basilone (DDG 122) and Woody Williams (T-ESB 4).

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. DDG 122 will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously, and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems designed to support maritime warfare including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam length of 59 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.