Ingalls Authenticates the Keel of Vessel

A United States Coast Guard ship built at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula will wear the name of an armed forces hero who passed away in 1938 after being involved in an automobile accident.
Jazania O’Neal’s grandfather was a United States hero. “He was always caring for everybody else. Others always came first. Not only in the service, but also the people in the communities.”
Former U.S. Coast Guard John Allen Midgett’s granddaughter’s initials were welded onto a keel plate to become a part of the vessel Midgett was named after. The keel authentication of the armed forces ship took place at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula.
The Midgett WMSL 757 will be Huntington Ingalls eighth national security cutter to be delivered to the Coast Guard. The name honors Midgett’s great acts of heroism like when he pulled a group of British sailors to safety after their ship was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the Coast of North Carolina. “Forty men, the ship was burning up and exploded out from the ocean,” said O’Neal.
Ingalls President Brian Cuccias said, “Through a tanker that was burning through flames in the water and he went and rescued all these men and women.”
“Laying the keel is one of the backbones of the ship. It’s what the ship is built around,” said Cuccias.
The laying of the keel is when the two biggest blocks of the ship officially unite together. The authentication is very honorary to Ingalls. “A great life saver, it goes back on the Midgett family, saving many lives,” said Cuccias.
Now Midgett’s name and the initials of the official sponsor of the ship, his granddaughter, will sail through the water defending the country. “The spirit of being on another national security cutter to defend our nation, what a great tribute. We feel honored to build a fine ship for him,” said Cuccias.