Ship bears name of Pearl Harbor hero

By Star-Advertiser staff

May 4, 2015

HUNTINGTON INGALLS INDUSTRIES
This courtesy photo shows the USS John Finn when it was launched in Pascagoula, Miss., where it was built.

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A guided-missile destroyer named for a Pearl Harbor hero was christened Saturday in Mississippi.

The John Finn, the 29th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is named after the first Medal of Honor recipient of World War II. Finn received the honor for machine-gunning Japanese warplanes for more than two hours during the December 1941 attack, despite being shot in the foot and shoulder and suffering numerous shrapnel wounds.

He retired as a Navy lieutenant after 30 years of service and died in 2010 at age 100.

"Finn outlived 14 fellow sailors who earned the Medal of Honor for their service in World War II," said Mike Petters, president and CEO of the shipbuilder, Huntington Ingalls Industries. "Unfortunately, he didn’t live long enough to know that a Navy ship would be named after him. I think he would be as humbled by this honor as he was with the title of hero bestowed upon him."

Nearly 1,000 guests attended the ceremony at the Ingalls Shipbuilding facility in Pascagoula.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are highly capable, multimission ships capable of simultaneously addressing air, surface and subsurface threats, the Navy says.