Future destroyer USS Delbert D. Black completes builder's trials

Feb. 24 (UPI) -- Builder's trials for the future USS Delbert D. Black were successfully completed after three days in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Navy announced on Monday.

The ship will undergo acceptance trials, conducted by the U.S. Navy Board of Inspection and Survey, in March, prior to its planned commissioning, the Navy said.

"The Navy and our dedicated shipbuilders have continued to make strides towards delivering this exceptional capability to the fleet, and performed well during builder's trials," Capt. Seth Miller, DDG 51 class program manager for the Navy's Program Executive Office Ships, said in a press release.

It is configured as a Arleigh Burke-class, Flight IIA destroyer, which enables power projection, forward presence, and escort operations at sea in support of littoral offshore warfare and use in open ocean conflict.

Now known as DDG 119, it will be equipped with the Navy's Aegis Combat System, the Navy said.

The vessel will be named in honor of Master Chief Petty Officer Delbert Black, the Navy's first Master Chief Petty Officer remembered for establishing the role of the Navy's senior enlisted leader. Black died in 2000.

Built at Huntington Ingalls Industries' shipyards in Pascagoula, Miss., the ship sustained an estimated $31 million in damage on Mar. 29, 2019, when another ship struck a barge in use as support for electrical work aboard the under-construction destroyer.

The barge was pushed against the hull of the DDG 119 and resulted in several minor injuries to workers.