USS ''Paul Ignatius'' (DDG-117) is an '' Arleigh Burke-class'' ( Flight IIA Technology Insertion)

Aegis The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a ...

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. She is named for Paul Ignatius who served as United States

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under President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

from 1967 to 1969. Ignatius had previously served as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in the Navy during World War II. ''Paul Ignatius'' is the second of eight planned Flight IIA "technology insertion" ships, which contains elements of the Flight III ships. ''Paul Ignatius'' was launched on 12 November 2016, and was christened on 8 April 2017. She was commissioned on 27 July 2019

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Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

. The ship was sponsored by Ignatius' wife Nancy before her death and that role was taken over by their granddaughter, Dr. Elisa Ignatuis. ''Paul Ignatius'' is homeported in Rota, Spain.

Operational history

On 28 April 2022, ''Paul Ignatius'' departed Mayport, Florida, for a patrol in the US Sixth Fleet area of operations and a homeport shift to Naval Station Rota. On 17 June 2022, ''Paul Ignatius'' arrived at her new homeport of in Rota, Spain. Her

Phalanx CIWS The Phalanx CIWS () is an automated gun-based close-in weapon system to defend military watercraft automatically against incoming threats such as aircraft, missiles, and small boats. It was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Co ...

was moved to the forward mount and she received the

SeaRAM The RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) is a small, lightweight, infrared homing surface-to-air missile in use by the German, Japanese, Greek, Turkish, South Korean, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian, Mexican, UAE, and United States navies. It wa ...

close-in weapon system on her aft mount. In October 2022, ''Paul Ignatius'' conducted a routine patrol in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, where she was accompanied by the support ship . After the

2022 Nord Stream pipeline sabotage On 26 September 2022, a series of underwater explosions and consequent gas leaks occurred on 3 of 4 Nord Stream pipes, rendering them inoperable. The Nord Stream 1 (NS1) and Nord Stream 2 (NS2) are natural gas pipelines. They are two of 23 ...

the ship remained deployed there to safeguard regional energy interests and to guard the areas of the pipeline sabotage. During this period, she embarked personnel from

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

, salvage, and

explosive ordnance disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are disabled or otherwise rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated fu ...

(EOD) units to assist in security and assessment operations.

References

External links

USS ''Paul Ignatius'' official website
Arleigh Burke-class destroyers 2016 ships Ships built in Pascagoula, Mississippi {{US-mil-stub