The US Navy and Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) formally named the future guided missile destroyer USS Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee in a ceremony at Ingalls Shipbuilding's facilities in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on Saturday, April 24.
The future Arleigh Burke-class destroyer honours Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee, the first woman to receive the Navy Cross, the second highest US military decoration for valour. Chief Nurse Higbee became the second superintendent of the US Navy Nurse Corps in 1911.
The ship is also the second US Navy vessel to be named after Chief Nurse Higbee. The first vessel, USS Higbee, was a Gearing-class destroyer that saw service during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
The future Lenah H. Sutcliff Higbee will be the 73rd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to be built.
