- The late U.S. Senator’s legacy will live on wherever the U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer may serve.
A ceremonial keel authentication for the future USS Thad Cochran (DDG 135) will be held this Thursday at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula.
Former U.S. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer announced in late 2019 that the Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer would be named in honor of the former Mississippi U.S. Senator. He said at the time that Thad Cochran’s legacy will live on wherever the destroyer may serve.
Ingalls marked the start of fabrication on the destroyer four years later in November 2023.
Cochran, who resigned from the U.S. Senate in April 2018, died in May of the following year. He was a Navy veteran prior to serving in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. He represented Mississippi in the House from 1973 to 1978 and in the Senate from 1978 to 2018. Cochran was the first Republican to win a U.S. Senate race in Mississippi since Reconstruction.
Former Senator Cochran was highly regarded as an unwavering supporter of the U.S. military throughout his career, championing critical national security priorities and securing essential defense funding for shipbuilding in Mississippi. His role as the Senate Appropriations chairman was vital in delivering billions in recovery aid to Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Kay Webber Cochran, the late Senator’s widow, is serving as the ship sponsor. At Thursday’s keel authentication ceremony at Ingalls, she will weld her initials onto a steel plate signifying the keel of DDG 135 to be “truly and fairly laid.”
Ingalls said the future USS Thad Cochran (DDG 135) is one of five Flight III destroyers currently under construction at Ingalls and represents the next generation of surface combatants for the U.S. Navy incorporating a number of design modifications that collectively provide significantly enhanced capability.
Upgrades featured on the ship include the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) and the Aegis Baseline 10 Combat System required to keep pace with the threats well into the 21st century, Ingalls noted.
Frank Corder
