Ingalls Shipbuilding hosts christening

Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula has named a ship in honor of Delbert Black and his 96-year-old wife will be the ship’s sponsor.
News 25’s Caroline Eaker caught up with Ima Black as she prepared to christen the ship.
Delbert Black was the first master chief petty office of the U.S. Navy from 1967 to 1971. He was on board the USS Maryland during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Even though Delbert won’t be able to be at the christening, his legacy lives on through his wife, Ima. “Well, I’m very excited about it. For years they talked about naming a ship for my husband even before he retired. They kept saying they were going to name a ship for my husband.”
Ima was working at a drugstore in 1943 when a Navy recruiter came in and ended up giving her the opportunity that she had been dreaming of. “I was in WWII. I was a WAVE. I joined the Navy when the women in the service was one-year-old. The Navy has been a part of my life for a long time. Since I joined in 1943, the Navy has been a part of my life.”
And other than this Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, the Navy continues to be a big part of her life. “When the first class are promoted to chief, all of the chief selects in Central Florida come to my apartment. I have a one bedroom apartment so they come to my house and they visit me.”
As first master chief petty officer of the Navy, Delbert Black was the service’s top adviser on matters related to enlisted sailors and their families. Ingalls Shipbuilding President Brian Cuccias said, “Her husband represented all the service men who reports to the chairmen of the joints chief and to have that voice, the service man’s voice, to be represented in ship she just exudes that and being sincerely thankful for what the Navy did for her and what we did building this ship for her.”