Two weeks after a ship with comparable capability played a key role in rescuing an American merchant ship captain from Somali pirates, the Navy commissioned its 53rd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in an April 25 ceremony at Charleston, S.C. The USS Truxton (DDG 103) was built at Northrop Grumman Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Miss., and will be homeported at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. Like the USS Bainbridge, which took part in the rescue operation, Truxton is designed to protect U.S. maritime interests and engage in combat against surface, undersea and airborne attackers simultaneously.
