Bath Iron Works on Thursday laid the keel for its next warship, the future USS William Charette, named for a Medal of Honor recipient and U.S. Navy Hospital corpsman during the Korean War.
“All of us in Navy Medicine are immensely proud to have a warship named after one of our own,” said Rear Admiral Darin Via, U.S. Navy surgeon general and chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery. “The future USS William Charette will not only be a symbol of American strength but also a testament to the courage and dedication of Navy corpsmen.”
The Charette is the latest in a line of Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in production at the Bath shipyard.
Via spoke at Thursday’s keel-laying on behalf of the Navy secretary. The William Charette sponsors are Charette’s daughters Margaret Ann Charette Henderson, Kati Charette Donovan and Laura Charette Bennett.
Brent Frye, a welder with 14 years of experience at Bath Iron Works, completes the keel authentication by striking welding arcs onto a steel plate with the ship sponsors’ initials. Courtesy of General Dynamics
Welder Brent Frye completed the keel authentication by striking welding arcs onto a steel plate with the sponsors’ initials and incorporating them into the ship. The keel laying signifies the start of hull integration.
“To have a ship named after a Navy corpsman is to hold to the maxim of ‘Corpsman Up’ and embodies the ethos of courage, fidelity and service before self,” Via said.
Charette received his Medal of Honor in Korea after a battle in which he repeatedly put his own life at risk while rendering medical aid to injured soldiers. At one point, he laid on top of an injured soldier to shield him from a grenade that landed and detonated nearby. Charette, a Michigan native, survived the war. He died at age 79 in 2012 in Florida.
In addition to the William Charette, Bath Iron Works is currently constructing the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Harvey C. Barnum Jr., Louis H. Wilson Jr., Quentin Walsh, John E. Kilmer and Richard G. Lugar.
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