US Navy announces commissioning date for new destroyer

The U.S. Navy announced on Tuesday that the new Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, pre-commissioning unit John Finn (DDG 113) will be commissioned July 15 at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

John Finn is the 63rd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the first of the DDG 51 Flight IIA restart ships being built by Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (BIW).

It is the first warship named for Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John Finn, whose heroism and bravery during the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Oahu’s Pearl Harbor and other nearby military installations earned him the first Medal of Honor awarded during World War II.

During the first attack by Japanese airplanes on Naval Air Station, Kaneohe Bay, he manned a .50-caliber machine gun in an exposed section under heavy enemy machine gun fire. Although wounded, it was only by specific orders he vacated his post to seek medical attention. Following first aid treatment, he returned to the squadron area and actively supervised the rearming of returning planes.

In spring of 2014, the keel of John Finn was laid down. The ship was launched March 30, 2015 and christened May 2, 2015 during a ceremony at the Ingalls Shipbuilding facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

John Finn will be stationed at Naval Base San Diego.