The US Navy formally named its 77th Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer in a ceremony on Saturday, July 27. The future USS Patrick Gallagher is also the 41st Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to be built by General Dynamics Bath Iron Works of Maine.
The ship is named for US Marine Corps Corporal Patrick Gallagher, who received the Navy Cross for heroism during the Vietnam War when he managed to jump on and throw an enemy grenade into a river. He was killed in action just one year afterwards.
The future Patrick Gallagher belongs to the Flight IIA variants of the Arleigh Burke-class. Each Flight IIA destroyer is equipped with improved integrated air and missile defence capabilities, increased computing power, and radar upgrades that improve detection range and reaction time against modern air warfare and ballistic missile threats.
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works has five additional future Arleigh Burke-class destroyers under construction. These include Harvey C. Barnum Jr., Louis H. Wilson Jr., William Charette, Quentin Walsh, and John E. Kilmer.
