Article Posted on : - Oct 03, 2011

The guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111). A US Navy photo

FLORIDA (BNS): US Navy has commissioned USS Spruance (DDG 111) for its Pacific fleet at Naval Air Station Key West.

According to the Navy, Spruance is the 61st Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the second Navy ship to bear the name, will be able to conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis management to sea control and power projection.

Spruance will contain myriad offensive and defensive weapons designed to support maritime warfare and be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously.

The 9,200-ton Spruance was built by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine.

The ship is 509 feet in length, has a waterline beam of 59 feet, and a navigational draft of 31 feet. Four gas turbine engines will power the ship to speeds in excess of 30 knots.

Spruance will proceed to her initial homeport of San Diego on Monday as the newest member of Destroyer Squadron 23.