HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division has launched the future USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), marking a key milestone in the construction of the U.S. Navy’s third Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built at the Pascagoula, Mississippi, shipyard.
According to a company statement, the launch was successfully carried out on March 25, when shipbuilders transferred the vessel from land to a dry dock using specialized translation railcars. Once in the dock, the destroyer was floated and moved by tugboats to a pier, where it will begin the final phase of outfitting and systems activation.
“The launch of DDG 129 is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our Ingalls shipbuilders and a collaborative achievement with our Navy partners,” said Ben Barnett, Ingalls Shipbuilding DDG Program Manager. “The future USS Jeremiah Denton will now undergo final outfitting, systems activation, and testing before entering the fleet.”
The ship is named after former U.S. Senator Jeremiah Denton Jr., a Vietnam War naval aviator who endured nearly eight years as a prisoner of war and was awarded the Navy Cross for his resistance under captivity. Denton later served in the U.S. Senate representing Alabama, beginning in 1981.
The Jeremiah Denton is equipped with the latest Flight III technologies, including the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) and the Aegis Baseline 10 Combat System. These upgrades are designed to enhance the ship’s ability to detect, track, and engage advanced air and missile threats across increasingly complex operational environments.
The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers remain the backbone of the Navy’s surface combatant fleet, offering multi-mission capabilities in ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare, and integrated air and missile defense.
Ingalls Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, currently has five Flight III destroyers under construction: Ted Stevens (DDG 128), Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131), Sam Nunn (DDG 133), and Thad Cochran (DDG 135).
The Navy has not released an official commissioning date for Jeremiah Denton, but final outfitting and pier-side testing will continue through the year as the ship prepares to join the operational fleet.