“America is a Pacific nation, a Pacific leader and a Pacific power — always has been and always will be … We believe in peace through strength — smart power backed by hard power and the ship’s hard power personified sends a clear signal to our friends and to our adversaries, that we will remain laser-focused on the Indo-Asia Pacific,” US Navy Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. said at the ceremony on Saturday, as quoted in the statement.
The admiral noted that the new destroyer is equipped with the Aegis Baseline 9 weapon system and thus could simultaneously carry out air warfare and ballistic missile defense, according to the statement.
“USS John Finn is about to join the Pacific Fleet and the Pacom joint team… This ship and her crew are ready to sail into harm’s way and assume the critical mission of safeguarding our nation’s interests in the Indo-Asia-Pacific,” Harris said.
The ship’s commissioning took place in Pearl Harbor in commemoration of the vessel’s namesake, Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John Finn, who earned the Medal of Honor for heroism during the Japanese attack that thrust the United States into World War II. Finn passed away at the age of 100 in 2010.
The John Finn vessel is the 63rd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the first of its class commissioned since USS Michael Murphy joined the US fleet in 2012.
