Steel cut on new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

Fabrication of another Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) guided missile destroyer for the U.S. Navy is underway at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi.

The ship, for which 100 tons of steel have so far been cut, will be named the Delbert D. Black (DDG 119) and is the 32nd such destroyer built by Ingalls Shipbuiding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries.

"Our shipbuilders are very excited about beginning the fabrication process of another DDG 51 destroyer, especially one named after the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy," said George Nungesser, Ingalls' DDG 51 program manager. "Serial production provides the most effective and efficient way to build ships, and this is our fourth ship started in three years."

Huntington Ingalls Industries said its shipbuilders will now assemble the ship using modular construction -- pre-fabricated units are constructed separately and later lifted in place and integrated with other units.

Delbert D. Black was the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy. He was a gunner's mate aboard the battleship USS Maryland during the attack on Pearl Harbor and served in three wars.