Bath-Built Destroyer DDG-124 Stops in Boston Before April Commissioning

Nine days after thousands of Bath Iron Works shipbuilders watched her head down the Kennebec, the Pre-Commissioning Unit Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG-124) arrived in Boston on March 13 for a scheduled port visit ahead of her April 11 commissioning in Norfolk, Virginia.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer departed BIW's Pier 3 at 11:45 a.m. on March 4, with her crew dressing the rails as the ship's 9,500 tons of steel and technology slid quietly into the channel. General Dynamics Bath Iron Works marked the moment on social media the following day: "Thousands of shipbuilders who helped build her proudly watched the latest Bath-built Arleigh Burke-class destroyer head down the Kennebec."

In Boston, sailors assigned to the pre-commissioning unit participated in community outreach engagements with local organizations and members of the ship's commissioning committee. The ship also hosted public tours, giving visitors the chance to step aboard and learn about life and operations on a U.S. Navy warship.

DDG-124 is a Flight IIA variant of the Arleigh Burke class, designed to conduct anti-air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare operations. Once commissioned, the ship will be capable of operating independently or as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, and expeditionary strike groups.

BIW closed its sailaway post with the yard's characteristic confidence: "Charge on DDG 124! Bath Built is Best Built." The sentiment echoed in the comments, where Gloria P. McKenzie wrote that her husband served on the destroyer Hart in World War II and thanked the shipbuilders directly: "The workers are working for us as they build these awesome ships!"

The Harvey C. Barnum Jr. is scheduled to be commissioned into the U.S. Navy fleet on April 11 in Norfolk, completing a journey that began on the banks of the Kennebec in Bath.