Northrop Grumman Delivers 17th Aegis Destroyer
Northrop Grumman Corporation Monday delivered to the U.S. Navy its newest warship, Preble (DDG 88). The new vessel is the 17th Aegis guided missile destroyer built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Pascagoula, Miss. Merchent said the Aegis program is "the backbone of our business success. "I thank Northrop Grumman Ship Systems for such a wonderful job in the construction of Preble," said Capt. Phil Johnson, USN, Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Pascagoula. Preble is the 38th ship in the DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class of Aegis guided missile destroyers, the Navy's most powerful destroyer fleet. Following DDG 88, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems has seven additional Aegis destroyers under contract, with six of these ships under construction.
Three Hulls = One Ship
The U.K. Ministry of Defense (MOD) has been studying the use of the trimaran hullform for its Future Surface Combatant. As part of its research and risk reduction process an ocean going demonstrator Research Vessel (RV) Triton was procured by QinetiQ, the former U.K. Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. From October 2000 to March 2002 it was used in these risk reduction trials and is now available for hire as a general trials ship. Over the past seven years the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) has explored in some detail the potential benefits of a trimaran. Hydrodynamic and structures studies by QinetiQ together with design investigations by the U.K.
USS Preble To Be Commissioned
USS Preble (DDG 88), the newest in a series of advanced Aegis guided missile destroyers built for the U.S. Navy by Northrop Grumman Corporation's Ship Systems sector, will be commissioned at 10 a.m. Anthony's Pier 4 in Boston, Mass. This ship is named in honor of Commodore Edward Preble (1761-1807), who was appointed a first lieutenant in the Navy in 1798. Connie Rae Clark, wife of Adm. Vern Clark, USN chief of naval operations, is the ship's sponsor. U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts will deliver the principal commissioning address. Diego, Calif., as an element of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Cmdr. 9,300-ton destroyer. USS Preble (DDG 88) is the 38th ship of the DDG 51 Aegis destroyer program, and the 17th to be built by Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.
