USS ''John Finn'' (DDG-113) is an in service with the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. The contract to build her was awarded to

Ingalls Shipbuilding Ingalls Shipbuilding is a shipyard located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, United States, originally established in 1938, and now part of Huntington Ingalls Industries, HII. It is a leading producer of ships for the United States Navy, and at 12,500 ...

Pascagoula, Mississippi Pascagoula ( ) is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. It is the principal city of the Pascagoula Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi–Pascagoula Combined Statistical Area. The population was 22 ...

, on 15 June 2011. Ingalls has been a subsidiary of

Huntington Ingalls Industries HII (formerly Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.) is the largest military shipbuilding company in the United States as well as a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. HII, ranked No. 371 on the Fortune 500, w ...

(HII) since its acquisition in April 2001. Prior to the award, Ingalls had constructed 28 ''Arleigh Burke''-class destroyers, the last one of which was . On 15 February 2011, Secretary of the Navy

Ray Mabus Raymond Edwin Mabus Jr. (; born October 11, 1948) is an American politician and lawyer. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2017. Mabus previously served as the State Auditor ...

announced the ship's name to be ''John Finn'' after

John William Finn John William Finn (24 July 1909 – 27 May 2010) was a sailor in the United States Navy who, as a chief petty officer, received the United States military's highest decoration, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the attack on Pearl Harbo ...

, the first

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

recipient of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was so honored for machine-gunning Japanese warplanes for over two hours during the December 1941

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...

despite being shot in the foot and shoulder, and suffering numerous shrapnel wounds. He retired as a lieutenant after thirty years of service and died at age 100 in 2010.

Design

''John Finn'' is the 63rd ''Arleigh Burke''-class destroyer, the first of which, , was commissioned in July 1991. With 89 ships planned to be built so far, the class has the longest production run for any U.S. Navy surface combatant. During its long production run, the class was built in three flights: Flight I (DDG-51 to DDG-71), Flight II/IIA/IIA T.I. (DDG-72 to DDG-124 & DDG-127), and Flight III (DDG-125, DDG-126 & DDG-128 to DDG-139). The ''Arleigh Burke''-class was also the first in the U.S. Navy to include anti-NBC (Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical) warfare protection. ''John Finn'' will be a Flight IIA ship, and as such, will feature several improvements in terms of

ballistic missile A ballistic missile is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are guided only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the ...

defense, an embarked

air wing In military aviation, a wing is a unit of command. In most military aviation services, a wing is a relatively large formation of planes. In Commonwealth countries a wing usually comprises three squadrons, with several wings forming a group ( ...

(two

MH-60R The Sikorsky SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk (or Sea Hawk) is a twin turboshaft engine, multi-mission United States Navy helicopter based on the United States Army UH-60 Black Hawk and a member of the Sikorsky S-70 family. The most significant modificatio ...

Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System The Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System (LAMPS) is the United States Navy's program that develops crewed helicopters to assist the surface fleet in anti-submarine warfare. The purpose of LAMPS is to scout outside the limits of a fleet's radar an ...

helicopters), and the inclusion of mine-detecting ability. As an ''Arleigh Burke''-class ship, ''John Finn''s roles include

anti-aircraft Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

, and

anti-surface warfare Anti-surface warfare (ASuW or ASUW) is the branch of naval warfare concerned with the suppression of surface combatants. More generally, it is any weapons, sensors, or operations intended to attack or limit the effectiveness of an adversary's su ...

, as well as strike operations.

Construction

In November 2013, ''John Finn''s keel was laid down at Ingalls Shipbuilding. The keel laying ceremony was attended by Laura Stavridis, the

ship sponsor A ship sponsor, by tradition, is a female civilian who is invited to "sponsor" a vessel, presumably to bestow good luck and divine protection over the seagoing vessel and all that sail aboard. In the United States Navy and the United States Coast ...

and former wife of retired Admiral

James Stavridis James George Stavridis (born February 15, 1955) is a retired United States Navy Admiral (United States), admiral, currently Vice Chair, Global Affairs and Managing Director of the global investment firm the Carlyle Group, and Chair of the Board o ...

. The ship was launched on 28 March 2015 and christened on 2 May 2015. On 7 December 2016, the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the ship was delivered to the U.S. Navy. The precommissioning crew moved on board the ship on 28 February 2017 and the vessel was commissioned on 15 July 2017 in

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the ...

, then homeported to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

History

On 17 November 2020, ''John Finn'' successfully intercepted an

ICBM An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than , primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons c ...

using a SM-3 Block IIA missile. The target missile was launched from the test site on the

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...

and simulated an attack on Hawaii. This was the first time that an ICBM had been successfully intercepted by an SM-3 and the first time a U.S. Navy ship had brought down such a missile.

Deployments

*Maiden deployment December 2020 - April 2021

Awards

Battle "E" The Battle Effectiveness Award (formerly the Battle Efficiency Award, commonly known as the Battle "E"), is awarded annually to the small number of United States Navy ships, submarines, aviation, and other units that win their battle effectiveness c ...

– (2019), (2020), (2021) *

Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon A Sea Service Ribbon is an award of the United States Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Army, and the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps which recognizes those service members who have performed military duty while stationed on a Un ...

- (2020)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:John Finn (DDG-113) Arleigh Burke-class destroyers 2015 ships