While putting my kayak in at the Point in Pascagoula, I saw these three across the way at Ingalls SB’s West Bank.
(Photo by Chris Eger)
PCU USS John Basilone (DDG-122) is afloat and fitting out to the far left, with her bow forward. Meanwhile, PCU USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119) is in the center, showing off her stern and twin helicopter hangar. To the far right, with her bridge visible between the cranes, is PCU USS Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123), which is still land-bound and nearing launch.
They are named for the famous Marine machine gun Rembrandt of Henderson Field, the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON) and the Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War I.
All three are Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers, the 72nd, 70th and 73rd such ships, respectively, of that huge tin can family. All are what the Navy calls “technology insertion” ships, containing elements of the Flight III ships, projected to begin with DDG-124.