US Navy boosts missile defense with new Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Jeremiah Denton.

On June 28, 2025, Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division christened the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129) at its Pascagoula shipyard in Mississippi, as part of the U.S. Navy’s ongoing surface fleet modernization efforts. The christening follows the successful launch of the ship on March 25, 2025, during which the destroyer was transferred from land to dry dock using translation railcars, floated, and then moved to pier-side with tugboats.
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The Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyers feature the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar, the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system, and upgraded power and cooling systems to support enhanced air and missile threat detection, tracking, and engagement capabilities. (Picture source: HII)

The ceremony included the traditional breaking of a bottle of sparkling wine across the ship’s bow, performed by the vessel’s sponsors, Madeleine Denton Doak and Mary Denton Lewis, who are daughters of the ship’s namesake. Remarks were delivered by Dr. Brett A. Seidle, performing the duties of the Under Secretary of the Navy, as well as by Vice Adm. James P. Downey, Commander of Naval Sea Systems Command, and Brian Blanchette, President of Ingalls Shipbuilding and Executive Vice President of HII.

USS Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129) is named in honor of Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton Jr., a decorated Vietnam War veteran who was awarded the Navy Cross for his resistance and heroism during his captivity as a prisoner of war. Denton served as a U.S. Navy aviator for 34 years and became widely known for his appearance in a televised broadcast during his imprisonment, in which he blinked the word “torture” in Morse code to communicate the conditions faced by U.S. prisoners. After his military career, he was elected in 1980 to the United States Senate, representing his home state of Alabama. The Navy named DDG 129 in his honor, and the ship’s naming is part of a broader U.S. Navy initiative to commemorate historical figures whose careers spanned both military and public service.

USS Jeremiah Denton is the third Flight III destroyer to be constructed at Ingalls Shipbuilding and the 36th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer delivered or under construction by the shipyard. The destroyer is built under a 2013 multi-year procurement agreement involving the U.S. Navy, HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding, and General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. Ingalls previously delivered the first Flight III destroyer, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), in June 2023. In addition to DDG 129, Ingalls Shipbuilding currently has four other Flight III ships under construction: Ted Stevens (DDG 128), George M. Neal (DDG 131), Sam Nunn (DDG 133), and Thad Cochran (DDG 135). The shipyard has delivered 35 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to date.

The Arleigh Burke-class Flight III configuration includes a series of technical modifications over previous variants. DDG 129 is equipped with the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR), which provides improved detection, tracking, and discrimination capabilities against advanced air and missile threats. The destroyer also incorporates the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system. Additional changes in the Flight III variant include modifications to the ship’s electrical power and cooling capacity, intended to support the new radar and combat systems. These upgrades are integrated to ensure compatibility with projected threat environments well into the 21st century and reflect a continuation of system evolutions from the earlier Flight IIA ships.

The USS Jeremiah Denton has a full load displacement of 9,217 tons, a length of 513 feet, and a beam of 66 feet. Propulsion is provided by four General Electric LM2500 gas turbines generating 75,000 kW, enabling speeds of 31 knots. The vessel is equipped with one 127 mm/62 Mk 45 Mod 4 naval gun, one 20 mm Phalanx close-in weapon system (CIWS), two 25 mm Mk 38 machine guns, and four 12.7 mm caliber crew-served weapons. The ship carries a total of 96 Mk 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) cells, divided into a 32-cell and a 64-cell module, from which it can launch a variety of missiles including the RIM-66M, RIM-156, RIM-174A, RIM-161, RIM-162, BGM-109 Tomahawk, and RUM-139 ASROC. For anti-submarine warfare, the ship has two Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes capable of launching Mark 46, Mark 50, and Mark 54 lightweight torpedoes.

The destroyer is designed to operate with a crew complement of 380 officers and enlisted personnel and features facilities to support rotary wing operations. It includes a double helicopter hangar and a flight deck capable of supporting two MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. These aviation assets contribute to the ship’s mission profile in anti-submarine, surveillance, and utility operations. The vessel’s hull is constructed of steel, and protection is enhanced with Kevlar-type armor and passive survivability features such as compartmentalization and shock-hardening. These design elements are standard within the class and contribute to damage control capabilities under combat conditions.

The christening of USS Jeremiah Denton adheres to long-standing naval traditions that date back to ancient maritime practices, adapted in modern naval ceremonies to signify the naming and blessing of a ship prior to its commissioning. The ritual typically includes the symbolic act of breaking a bottle against the hull and the presence of a sponsor, often someone with familial or historical ties to the ship’s namesake. While practices have evolved over centuries, their central purpose has remained to request good fortune and safety for the ship and its crew. The U.S. Navy continues to observe these ceremonies as part of the process of introducing new vessels into the fleet, maintaining consistency with both institutional protocols and maritime cultural heritage.