During a ceremony steeped in Navy tradition, a state-of-the-art combat ship bearing the name of Arkansas' capital city will launch today into Wisconsin's Menominee River.
The U.S. Navy will officially christen its newest ship the USS Little Rock.
For the first time, defense contractor Lockheed Martin will live-stream a ship launch, which starts at 10 a.m. and is held near the Marine Corp. shipyard in Marinette, Wis. Arkansans can watch online at arkansasonline.com/usslittlerock/.
"It's very special to have one of these modern, 21st century, absolutely the elite of the U.S. Navy battleships named after Little Rock," said Mayor Mark Stodola, who is speaking at today's ceremony.
"I will speak about how proud we are that our Navy and armed forces will be represented by one of the latest great ships in the world, with the name Little Rock on it."
About 1,000 spectators will watch as Janee Bonner, the sponsor for the launch and the wife of former U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner of Alabama, smashes a bottle of champagne on the ship, christening it.
Then, the 3,400-ton, 388-yard ship will slide down a ramp and splash into the Menominee River sideways, said Neil King, director of littoral combat ships at Lockheed Martin.
The USS Little Rock is a littoral combat ship, made to move and turn within tight spaces and operate close to shore, King said. Another, the USS Fort Worth, is currently on a 16-month deployment to Southeast Asia.
Lockheed Martin will deliver more littoral combat ships to the Navy every six months for the next several years, King said.
The USS Milwaukee will launch this fall, and ships named for Detroit; Sioux City, Iowa; Wichita, Kan.; Billings, Mont.; Indianapolis; and St. Louis are under construction.
"It's very prestigious to be the namesake of a ship," King said. "This is definitely something to be proud of within the great state of Arkansas and the city of Little Rock."
Lt. Eric Durie, a Navy public affairs officer, said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has the final say in naming ships in the U.S. fleet.
Many ships are named after large or midsize cities that don't have a large Navy presence, Durie said, as a way of involving their residents with the service branch.
In October 2011, Mabus traveled to Arkansas and announced to Stodola that the littoral combat ship would bear the name of Little Rock. While in the Navy, Mabus served on the original USS Little Rock as a surface warfare officer.
The first USS Little Rock, a cruiser, was in service on and off from 1945 to 1976. It is currently on display at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park in Buffalo, N.Y.
The annual reunion of crew members who served on the original USS Little Rock is being held at the museum this weekend.
In a written statement, Mabus said the name will be a "reminder of the importance of connecting the American people with the sailors and Marines who sail aboard our ships, often far from home."
"The name Little Rock will tie this ship and her crew, regardless of their position on the globe, to a great American city ... just as it did when I served aboard the first USS Little Rock during my years in the Navy," the statement reads.
On Friday, Stodola participated in a "Mast Stepping" ceremony, during which he placed an official seal of the city of Little Rock and a commemorative coin into an aluminum capsule, or "treasure chest," that was sealed inside the ship's mast.
There will always be a piece of Little Rock aboard the ship, Stodola said.
After today's launch, Lockheed Martin will put the USS Little Rock through testing. It will then be officially handed over to the Navy in another ceremony.
According to a Navy release, the ship will be commissioned sometime in 2016.
"We'll essentially transfer the car keys to the ship, and the Navy will take ownership of it," King said. "It will be formally a part of the U.S. Navy fleet."
Metro on 07/18/2015