USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117)

USS PAUL IGNATIUS is the 67th ARLEIGH BURKE - class guided missile destroyer and the first ship in the Navy to honor Paul Robert Ignatius, who served in the US Navy during World War II, as Secretary of the Navy from 1967-1969, and as Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Lyndon B. Johnson administration.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: June 3, 2013
	Keel laid: September 11, 2015
	Launched: November 11, 2016
	Commissioned: July 27, 2019
	Builder: Northrop Grumman Ship Systems' Ingalls Operations, Pascagoula, Miss.
	Propulsion system: four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines
	Propellers: two
	Length: 508,5 feet (155 meters)
	Beam: 67 feet (20.4 meters)
	Draft: 30.5 feet (9.3 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 9,200 tons full load
	Speed: 32 knots
	Aircraft: two SH-60 (LAMPS 3) helicopters
	Armament: one Mk-45 5"/62 caliber lightweight gun, two Mk-41 VLS for Standard missiles and Tomahawk ASM/LAM, one 20mm Phalanx CIWS, one SeaRAM system, two Mk-32 triple torpedo tubes for Mk-50 and Mk-46 torpedoes, two Mk 38 Mod 2 25mm machine gun systems
	Homeport: Rota, Spain
	Crew: approx. 320

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS PAUL IGNATIUS. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

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About the Ship's Coat of Arms:

The Shield:

The chief of the shield is borrowed from the Seal of the University of Southern California, Paul Ignatius' proud Trojan alma mater. The sun signifies the west and, according to the University's symbolism, power and life. The three estoiles refer to the three years Ignatius served as Secretary of the Navy, 1967-1969. The chevron alludes to the bow of a ship, and the image of a destroyer symbolizes the USS PAUL IGNATIUS, described by Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus as "a reminder of the experience and the wisdom of Paul Ignatius." The chevron is colored white for excellence.

The Crest:

America's national bird, the bald eagle, alludes to Paul Ignatius' proud heritage of selfless service. The United States and Secretary of the Navy flags symbolize his long career dedicated to his nation. The PAUL IGNATIUS will also serve at length; she is expected to be in the Fleet for three or four decades.

Supporters:

The crossed Navy swords symbolize teamwork and refer to Secretary Ignatius' tenure as a Navy Officer during World War II. The first part of the DDG 117 motto, "ALWAYS READY", is taken from the USS MANILA BAY's motto. During World War II, Ignatius served aboard the USS MANILA BAY (CVE 61) in Northern Japan with Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher who received the surrender from the Northern Japanese forces. The phrase "Fight On" is taken from the USC fight song.

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About the Ship's Name:

USS PAUL IGNATIUS is named after the 59th United States Secretary of the Navy.

After graduating from the University of Southern California in 1942, Ignatius was accepted for a master's program with Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. The program carried the prerequisite of commissioning in the Army or Navy before attendance. In August of 1942, he was commissioned as an ensign in naval ordnance.

With the completion of service on the USS MANILA BAY (CVE 61) and the termination of World War II, Ignatius separated from the Naval service in 1946. He then attended Harvard Business School where he received a Master of Business Administration.

Upon graduating, Ignatius became a research assistant and ultimately an instructor in business administration for the school. This eventually led to his involvement in Harbridge House, a consulting and research firm that produced teaching materials for civilian organizations and the government.

Aiding in both the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations, Ignatius became the Assistant Secretary of the Army and later the Under Secretary of the Army. In 1965, he became the Assistant Secretary of Defense and then the Secretary of the Navy in 1967. He resides in Washington D.C. with his wife, Nancy Ignatius.

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History of USS PAUL IGNATIUS:

USS PAUL IGNATIUS is an ARLEIGH BURKE - class Flight IIA "technology insertion" destroyer built by Ingalls Shipbuilding at Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her keel was authenticated on October 20, 2015, the ship launched on November 12, 2016, and she was christened on April 8, 2017. Following delivery to the Navy in early 2019, she was commissioned on July 27, 2019, during a ceremony at Port Everglades, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. She initially joined the Atlantic Fleet from Naval Station Mayport, Florida.

In the months after commissioning (late 2019-2020), PAUL IGNATIUS completed her shakedown and post-delivery workup cycle. A Post-Shakedown Availability (PSA) was planned and funded at BAE Systems Jacksonville. Around this maintenance window the crew executed Combat Systems Ship Qualification Trials (CSSQT) and the Basic Phase certifications typical for a new-construction destroyer, establishing baseline readiness for integrated fleet operations despite the COVID-19 constraints of 2020.

In 2021, the ship shifted from workups into higher-end fleet exercises. During At-Sea Demo/Formidable Shield 2021 in the Northeast Atlantic (May 26 and May 30), PAUL IGNATIUS fired two SM-3 interceptors and successfully engaged ballistic-missile targets, an early demonstration of her integrated air and missile defense role within a NATO task group. That summer she completed a change of command at Mayport (June 25). In September she participated in Surface Warfare Advanced Tactical Training (SWATT) in the Atlantic alongside KEARSARGE (LHD 3) Amphibious Ready Group units, building multi-ship tactics and gunnery proficiency ahead of future deployments.

On April 27, 2022, PAUL IGNATIUS departed Mayport to begin her inaugural overseas patrol and execute a homeport shift to Forward-Deployed Naval Forces Europe. En route she worked with multiple NATO allies during exercises "Cable Car" and "Green Light" and made port visits in Ponta Delgada (Azores) and Bergen (Norway). She completed the homeport move on June 17, 2022, arriving at Naval Station Rota, Spain, to join Commander, Task Force 65 under US Sixth Fleet.

The remainder of 2022 was spent on her first FDNF-E patrol with a heavy northern focus. In the Baltic Sea she integrated with the KEARSARGE ARG/22nd MEU and trained alongside British, Canadian, French, German, Norwegian and other allied forces. Port calls punctuating the patrol included Tallinn, Estonia (August 20), Riga, Latvia (September 15), and later Helsinki, Finland (early December) during the Finnish-led exercise "Freezing Winds 22". The ship wrapped up the year with a scheduled visit to Kiel, Germany (December 8), before returning to Rota on December 20, 2022.

Her second FDNF-E patrol unfolded through mid-to-late 2023. After Baltic and North Atlantic missions which included participation in BALTOPS 2023 and a mid-October port visit to Plymouth, England (October 13), PAUL IGNATIUS shifted south and integrated with the GERALD R. FORD (CVN 78) Carrier Strike Group during its Eastern Mediterranean presence following the October 7 crisis, contributing to theater air-defense and deterrence tasking. She returned to Rota on November 28, 2023, closing a roughly six-month deployment.

In 2024, the destroyer continued Sixth Fleet operations and logistics touchpoints around the Mediterranean. Imagery and captions show a sea-and-anchor evolution in April near Rota, followed by a port visit to Souda Bay, Crete, on May 8 during a scheduled deployment period, consistent with the ship's routine of patrols interleaved with short maintenance and liberty stops from her Rota base.

In early 2025, PAUL IGNATIUS conducted operations across the central Med and Adriatic. She pulled into Augusta Bay, Sicily, for a scheduled port visit on February 27. By June she was back in Northern European waters participating in BALTOPS 25. However, her participation in the exercise was cut short when she was ordered back into the Mediterranean in response to the Israel-Iran conflict.

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Homeports of USS PAUL IGNATIUS:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at Port Everglades, Fla.
2019 - 2022	Mayport, Fla.
2022 - present	Rota, Spain

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USS PAUL IGNATIUS Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Lisa Raabe and shows the PAUL IGNATIUS at Tallinn, Estonia, on August 22, 2022. She shows the typical weapons system configuration of the Rota-based US Navy guided missile destroyers with a Phalanx CIWS forward and a SeaRAM system aft. USS PAUL IGNATIUS changed her homeport from Mayport, Fla., to Rota, Spain in mid-June 2022. Since early August, she's on her first forward-deployed patrol.