BATH, Maine, June 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy authenticated the keel for a warship named after a fallen Navy SEAL at a shipyard in Maine, the Navy announced.
The Navy laid the keel for the future USS Michael Murphy at the General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine.
The future USS Michael Murphy is the 62nd ship in the DDG-51 class. The ship is a multimission vessel deigned to respond to a variety of threats with its Aegis Combat System.
The ship is designated DDG 112.
Murphy was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in support of combat operations in Afghanistan in June 2005.
The U.S. Navy says Murphy and his four-man team came under enemy fire near Asadabad, Afghanistan. He took repeated enemy fire when he left his cover position in order to relay unit location and call in support to his headquarters. He later returned to cover and died while engaging insurgent forces.
"As the 62nd ship of the class, I believe DDG 112 will be the finest destroyer yet delivered," said Capt. Pete Lyle, DDG 51-class program manager. "There couldn't be a more fitting tribute to Lt. Murphy's sacrifice."
