U.S. Navy’s newest Flight III destroyer to be commissioned in October

The U.S. Navy will commission its newest guided-missile destroyer, the USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128), on October 3 in Whittier, Alaska, according to a release from Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

The ceremony will be the first Navy ship commissioning held in Alaska since 2013, when the USS Anchorage (LPD 23) was commissioned at the Don Young Port of Alaska, according to the USS Ted Stevens Commissioning Committee. Secretary of the Navy John Phelan approved the Whittier location earlier this year.

The Ted Stevens is a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, the third of that configuration, built by Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship’s sponsors, Catherine Ann Stevens and her daughters Susan Stevens Covich and Lily Stevens Becker, christened the vessel there in August 2023. The Navy took delivery of the destroyer in December 2025, and it departed Ingalls in May 2026, arriving at its future homeport of Naval Station Norfolk on May 15.

The ship honors Ted Stevens, a decorated World War II Army Air Corps pilot who earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses and two Air Medals flying missions over “The Hump” in the China-Burma-India theater. Stevens later became a leading advocate for Alaska statehood and represented the state in the U.S. Senate from December 1968 to January 2009, serving as president pro tempore during the 108th and 109th Congresses.

“Equipped with cutting-edge systems and capabilities, USS Ted Stevens is ready to answer our Nation’s call to counter aggression and safeguard our interests by providing a powerful advantage at sea,” said Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao.

“USS Ted Stevens represents the combat-ready, lethal force our Navy needs to deter aggression and defend our nation,” said Adm. Daryl Caudle, Chief of Naval Operations. “With her advanced sensors, weapons, and air and missile defense capabilities, this ship will give our Fleet greater capacity to find, track, and defeat threats across the maritime domain.”

“That legacy now passes to the Sailors who will bring this ship to life, turn her advanced integrated air and missile defense into combat power, and carry Senator Stevens’ standard forward,” said Vice Adm. Joe Cahill, commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet.

Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyers carry the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and run the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system, along with upgraded electrical power and cooling capacity to support the added sensor load. The class is built to handle air defense, ballistic missile defense, anti-submarine warfare and surface combat missions, including against advanced cruise and ballistic missile threats.

Following the commissioning ceremony, the Ted Stevens will sail to its permanent homeport in Norfolk, Virginia.