Bath Iron Works lays keel for new destroyer

Courtesy / Bath Iron Works Teresa Keegan, one of the sponsors of DDG 127 and a sister of Patrick Gallagher, the ship’s namesake, strikes welding arcs to authenticate the ship’s keel plate. She is assisted by BIW senior welder Edward Hayes. Keegan and her two sisters, also ship sponsors, traveled from Ireland to Maine for the ceremony.

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By Staff

Bath Iron Works has begun construction of the future USS Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127), one of a number of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers underway at the Bath facility.

The shipyard, owned by Virginia-based General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE: GD), on Thursday held a ceremony to celebrate the laying of the keel.

The U.S. Navy named the ship in honor of Marine Corps Cpl. Patrick Gallagher, an Irish citizen who earned the Navy Cross fighting in Vietnam and was later killed in action.

The ship’s sponsors are Gallagher’s sisters Teresa Keegan, Rosemarie Gallagher and Pauline Gallagher. The sponsors authenticated the keel by striking welding arcs onto a steel plate that will be incorporated into the ship, according to a news release.

They were assisted by Edward Hayes, a senior welder with 33 years’ experience at BIW, who is helping build DDG 127.

The laying of the keel and its authentication signifies the start of hull integration and is the precursor to final integration, launch and sea trials.

“More than 1,000 men and women have worked on this ship since we first cut steel,” said Chris Waaler, vice president of programs and planning for Bath Iron Works. “We will ensure this ship will be ready to nobly serve our nation, as Cpl. Gallagher did for the Marine Corps in Vietnam.”

The audience included retired Gen. Walter E. Boomer, former assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, retired Brigadier Gen. Michael I. Neil, a Navy Cross recipient and members of Gallagher’s unit in Vietnam.

Bath Iron Works has under construction the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Carl M. Levin (DDG 120), John Basilone (DDG 122), Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124) and Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127) as well as the Flight III configuration destroyers Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126), William Charette (DDG 130) and Quentin Walsh (DDG 132).

Last year, the yard was awarded a $55 million contract extension from the U.S. Navy to provide lead yard services for Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.

BIW is providing configuration management, logistics, supply chain, engineering and design services for the 500-foot guided missile warships.

BIW has provided design and technical services for building and upgrading the Burke-class destroyers since 1987.

BIW and the Mississippi yard of Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (NYSE: HII) are the only two builders of the Burke destroyers. Over 60 of the ships are now in service, and BIW has produced 37 of them including the first one, which launched in 1989.