US Navy named its newest guided-missile destroyer Rafael Peralta (DDG 115) on Saturday, October 31.
The ship is named for Sgt. Rafael Peralta, U.S. Marine Corps, who was deployed to Iraq in Operation Iraqi Freedom and was killed November 15, 2004, during the Second Battle of Fallujah in house-to-house urban combat.
Rosa Maria Peralta, Sgt. Peralta’s mother, the ship’s sponsor, officially christened the vessel by breaking a bottle of champagne against the ship’s bow at an event held at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works’ shipyard.
The shipyard began fabrication on DDG 115 in November 2011, and delivery to the Navy is scheduled for 2016.
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Image: GD BIW