Keel Authentication Ceremony at Ingalls Shipbuilding

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (WXXV)- Ingalls Shipbuilding authenticated the keel of Guided Missile Destroyer Thad Cochran DDG 135.

The ship represents the next generation of surface combatants for the U.S. Navy.

The ship honors Thad Cochran, a Navy veteran and former U.S. senator, who represented Mississippi from 1978 to 2018.

The ceremony attendees included Ingalls Shipbuilders and Cochran’s wife and ship sponsor, Kay Webber Bowen Cochran, who welded her initials onto a steel plate signifying the keel of DDG 135 to be truly and fairly laid.

Cochran was an unwavering supporter of the U.S. military and held a huge role in delivering billions in recovery aid to Mississippi following Hurricane Katrina in 2005.