Keel laid for future US Navy destroyer William Charette

The keel for the future USS William Charette, a US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, was laid during a ceremony at General Dynamic Bath Iron Works (BIW) on Thursday, August 29.

The ship is named in honour of Master Chief Hospital Corpsman William R. Charette, a veteran who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic acts during the Korean War.

Although seriously wounded during the same action that earned him the Medal of Honor, Master Chief Charette survived the war, served until his retirement from the navy in 1977, and ultimately died in 2012 at the age of 79.

The future William Charette will be an Arleigh Burke-class Flight III destroyer. The Flight III ships will each feature the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and incorporate upgrades to the electrical power and cooling capacity plus additional associated changes to provide greatly enhanced warfighting capability to the fleet.

The future destroyers Harvey C. Barnum Jr, Louis H. Wilson Jr, Patrick Gallagher, Quentin Walsh, John E. Kilmer, and Richard G. Lugar are also under construction at BIW.