Navy Secretary Names Future Destroyer in Honor of Late Sen. Thad Cochran

A graphic illustration of the future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Thad Cochran. U.S. Navy

WASHINGTON — Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer announced a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named in honor of late Sen. Thad Cochran, a Navy veteran, the secretary’s public affairs said in a release. 

Cochran was commissioned an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve in 1959 after graduating from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and completed his service in the U.S. Navy in 1961. 

He served on the staff of the Commandant of the 8th Naval District in New Orleans; taught military law and naval orientation at the Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island; and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Reserve. 

Cochran went on to serve in the House of Representatives from 1973 to 1978 and represented Mississippi in the U.S. Senate from 1978 to 2018. He was recognized as the 10th longest-serving senator in the U.S. history. He was chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee from 2005 to 2007 and from 2015 to 2018. 

“From his service as a legal officer aboard the heavy cruiser USS Macon, to his dedicated work on behalf of our Sailors and Marines on the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Thad Cochran was always a strong advocate for our nation’s defense and a courtly voice for cooperation and civility in American politics,” Spencer said. “We mourned his passing this May, but his legacy will live on wherever this Arleigh Burke-class destroyer may serve.”   

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence and crisis response to sea control and power projection. The USS Thad Cochran will be capable of fighting air, surface, and subsurface battles simultaneously and will contain a combination of offensive and defensive weapon systems to support maritime warfare, including integrated air and missile defense and vertical launch capabilities. The ship will be 509 feet long, have a beam of 59 feet and be capable of operating in excess of 30 knots.

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