Ingalls Delivers Destroyer Delbert D. Black

MarineLink April 24, 2020

Donny Dorsey (right), Ingalls DDG 119 ship program manager; Commander Matthew McKenna (center), DDG 119 prospective commanding officer; and Peter T. Christman III, DDG 51 Project Office, SUPSHIP Gulf Coast, practice safe social distancing while signing the DD 250 transferring custody of Delbert Black (DDG 119) to the United States Navy on Friday, April 24, at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss. Photo by Lance Davis/HII

Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division delivered the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) to the U.S. Navy.

Documents signed today mark the official transfer of custody of the ship from HII to the Navy. Delbert D. Black is scheduled to sail away from the Pascagoula, Miss. shipyard in August 2020.

DDG 119 is the first ship named in honor of Navy veteran Delbert D. Black, who served as a gunner’s mate and was aboard the battleship USS Maryland (BB 46) during the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

The ship was was originally scheduled to be commissioned in 2019, but an allision at the shipyard in March 2019 caused scheduling delays, minor injuries and more than $30 million in damage to the new destroyer, which was still under construction at the time. A heavy lift ship delivering a floating dry dock to Ingalls made contact with a test barge that was berthed alongside the destroyer and supporting electrical work aboard the destroyer, which then made contact with the destroyer.

“We are proud to deliver our 32nd state-of-the-art destroyer to the Navy,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said. “Our workforce plays a critical role in protecting those who serve our nation. We continue to fulfill our mission as shipbuilders by building highly capable warships that meet and exceed the needs of our military partners.”

The shipyard currently has four more DDGs under construction including Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG 121), Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG 123), Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125) and Ted Stevens (DDG 128).

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multi-mission ships and can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection, all in support of the United States military strategy. Guided missile destroyers are capable of simultaneously fighting air, surface and subsurface battles. The ship contains myriad offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime defense needs well into the 21st century.