The US Navy has christened its 81st Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, the USS George M. Neal (DDG 131), in Mississippi, as program partner HII prepares the vessel for admittance into service.
The ship’s namesake was an aviation machinist awarded the Navy Cross for valor during the Korean War, in which he rescued a US Marine Corps pilot from the North Korean mountains.
Neal, along with his pilot and the recovered officer, evaded enemies for more than a week before being captured and held as prisoners of war.
In 1952, the machinist and about 320 prisoners were eventually released and returned to the US.
Kelley Neal Gray, his daughter, attended the ceremony and served as the warship’s sponsor.
“On behalf of my family, I express my deepest gratitude to the United States Navy, to the incredible honor, for this magnificent destroyer after my father, George Milton Neal,” Gray said.
“We are forever grateful that his life of service, sacrifice and courage will be remembered through a ship that will one day defend our nation and carry his legacy throughout the world.”
Fourth Advanced Ship of the Fleet
The Neal is the fourth hull in the Arleigh Burke series being constructed by HII with a Flight III technical configuration.
That upgraded version integrates advanced digital command and control solutions, an electronic warfare suite, target and tracking capabilities, and simultaneous scanning technology.
It also provides improved cooling capacity and electrical power, as well as an upgraded electronically scanned array radar to support maritime interdiction, air defense, and anti-submarine warfare.
“When she is delivered, DDG 131 will be the most powerful surface combatant in the world,” HII President and CEO Chris Kastner remarked during the event.
“She will be ready. She’ll be ready because the United States of America makes a conscious choice, generation after generation for now 250 years, to invest in US Navy ships, built by Americans, in America.”
