Destroyer bearing the name of retired U.S. senator Carl M. Levin to cruise the seas. (U.S. Navy Photo)
LEVIN HONORED: Destroyer USS Carl M. Levin Named in Detroit
April 27, 2016
2 Comments
By: Dave Rogers
Michigan is the focal point for two public events involving two U.S. Navy warships.
Former U.S. Senator Carl M. Levin's wife, Barbara, is the sponsor of littoral combat ship USS Detroit (LCS 7), which is expected to be commissioned later this summer along the Detroit River.
And, during a recent ceremony in Detroit, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced the next Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, DDG 120, will be named Carl M. Levin in honor of the longest serving senator in Michigan history.
During his 36 years in the Senate, Levin was a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and its chair for more than nine years. He also served as chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, as a member of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He led the Senate in adoption of the Defense Authorization Acts from 2007 through January 2015 when he retired.
Currently, Levin is senior counsel at Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP and chair of the Levin Center at Wayne State University Law School and the law school's distinguished legislator in residence.
"It is a great honor to name this ship in recognition of such a dedicated public servant," said Mabus. "I have no doubt that all who serve aboard her will carry on the legacy of service and commitment exemplified by Carl Levin during his storied career."
"My family and I are deeply moved by this singular honor and to be so wonderfully connected to the men and women of our great Navy," said Levin.
Arleigh-Burke class destroyers conduct a variety of operations from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. DDG 120 will be capable of fighting air, surface and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems designed to support maritime warfare including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities.
The ship will be constructed at Bath Iron Works in Maine and is expected to enter the Navy fleet in 2020. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam length of 59 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 30 knots.
Additional information about the Arleigh-Burke class destroyers is available online at http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=900&ct=4.
Media may direct queries to the Navy Office of Information at (703) 697-5342. For more news from secretary of the Navy public affairs, visit www.navy.mil/SECNAV.
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ebmspang Says:
On May 02, 2016
at 01:53 AM
It's nice to see that they named this tax-payer financed vessel after a former Vietnam era naval hero who served bravely before serving his Constitutionally-allotted/limited two terms as senator...
...oh wait...I must have been day dreaming. I just researched Levin...he was actually just a Harvard educated draft dodger who became a career politician beginning in the 70's, who also just happened to Chair the Armed Services Committee. I wonder how many "thumbs up" military budget votes it takes to have a naval vessel named after you in Washington?.
Here's a great suggestion...the next time they name one of these ships, perhaps a better way to name them would be to enter very tax payer's name into a lottery drawing where the winner gets the ship named after them. Now that how a country run by THE PEOPLE should work!
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ebmspang Says:
On May 02, 2016
at 01:56 AM
It's nice to see that they named this tax-payer financed vessel after a former Vietnam era naval hero who served bravely before serving his Constitutionally-allotted/limited two terms as senator...
...oh wait...I must have been day dreaming. I just researched Levin...he was actually just a Harvard educated draft dodger who became a career politician beginning in the 70's, who also just happened to Chair the Armed Services Committee. I wonder how many "thumbs up" military budget votes it takes to have a naval vessel named after you in Washington?.
Here's a great suggestion...the next time they name one of these ships, perhaps a better way to name them would be to enter every tax payer's name into a lottery drawing where the winner gets the ship named after them. Now that how a country run by THE PEOPLE should work!
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Dave Rogers
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Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read, respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City. (Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)
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