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| Press Release January 3, 2000 |
Bath Iron Works hosted a keel laying ceremony for MASON (DDG 87) on January 20, 2000. Two crewmembers from a previous ship named MASON, DE 529, a destroyer escort that carried the Navy’s first black crew to sea and battle in World War II, were on hand to witness the ceremony.
Keel laying is a shipbuilding milestone that marks the first of approximately 30 ship units to be placed on the building ways. DDG 87, an ARLEIGH BURKE Class AEGIS guided missile destroyer, will be the last to launch from building ways at the shipyard before the completion of the land-level transfer facility later this year. The ship is scheduled for launching on December 9, 2000.
MASON (DDG 87) honors two previous ships of that name. The first MASON (DD 191) served the Navy from 1920 to 1941 and was named for John Young Mason, secretary of the Navy from 1844 to 1849. The second MASON (DE 529) served the Navy from 1944 to 1945 and was named after Ensign Newton Henry Mason, who died following aerial combat against Japanese forces during the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1942. Author Mary Pat Kelly wrote a story about the crew of DE 529 in Proudly We Served: The Men of USS MASON.
Bath Iron Works of Bath, Maine, a leader in surface combatant design and construction, employs 7,700 people. It is a subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia. General Dynamics has leading market positions in shipbuilding and marine systems, land and amphibious combat systems, information systems, and business aviation. The company employs 44,000 people worldwide and has annualized sales of approximately $10 billion. More information about General Dynamics can be found on the worldwide web at www.generaldynamics.com.
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