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Destroyer to be commissioned in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — For the first time in nearly a quarter-century, a major naval warship will be commissioned in Baltimore.

The Sterett, a $1.3 billion guided missile destroyer, left its shipyard in Bath, Maine, last week for a month of at-sea testing. It will dock in Newport, R.I., and Norfolk, Va., before sailing up the Chesapeake Bay to Baltimore, where it begins duty in early August. A week of festivities will precede its official commission at the South Locust Point Cruise Terminal.

Commander Brian Eckerle, the Sterett’s captain and a Charles County, Md., resident, says the crew is excited about bringing the ship to “a city with such a rich nautical tradition.”

The Sterett is named for Andrew Sterett, a Baltimore-born 19th-century naval officer. It is one of 62 Arleigh-Burke class destroyers.