SECNAV Del Toro Names Destroyer After Carrier Intrepid

January 3, 2025 4:47 PM
Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro aboard carrier Intrepid on Jan. 3, 2024. US Navy Photo

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro named the sea service’s newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Intrepid (DDG-145), the latest to carry that name in the fleet, according to a Friday Navy announcement.

The destroyer will be the fifth vessel to carry the name, Del Tor said while aboard museum ship Intrepid, a former aircraft carrier now resting in New York’s waters. The ship will “honor of her past namesakes and the courageous service of all our sailors globally from the South China Sea to the Red Sea,” Del Toro said.

The aircraft carrier was the fourth to carry the Intrepid name through World War II in the Pacific and Vietnam until final decommissioning in 1974.

“We know this namesake ship will serve our Navy and our nation proudly as the former USS Intrepid did and continues to do, and we couldn’t be more thrilled that it begins its proverbial journey today at the Intrepid Museum,” Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum President Susan Marenoff-Zausner said in a Navy release on the ceremony.

While this is the fifth vessel to hold the name Intrepid, it is in part named after the aircraft carrier, which participated in the battle of Leyte Gulf, which has also lent its name to a ship.

In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, aircraft from Intrepid spotted super-battleship Yamato, the flagship of Japanese Adm. Takeo Kurita. Two hours later, Intrepid and another American ship, Cabot, attacked the Japanese, with Intrepid’s aircraft sinking battleship Musashi and damaging Yamato, as well as two other Japanese battleships and a heavy cruiser, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.

The following morning, aircraft attacked Japanese ships off Cape Engano in the Philippines. One of the aircraft assigned to Intrepid hit light carrier Zuiho while American bombers sank ship Chitosi. Another aircraft hit Zuikaku, knocking out its communications, while other forces sank destroyer Ayitsuki.

“Throughout the day, the attacks continued, and after five more strikes, Japan lost four carriers and a destroyer during the battle. In addition, Leyte was no longer a strategic threat to the Allies,” reads the historical account.

USS Intrepid (CV-11) also participated in the invasion of Okinawa and attacks on mainland Japan before the war ended.

The Essex-class carrier, built at Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock, was first decommissioned in 1947. Returned to service five years later, Intrepid became the first modern attack carrier with duties in the Atlantic Fleet. It was the first carrier to use American-built steam catapults. Intrepid later supported NATO in the 1950s and 1960s in anti-submarine warfare as CVS-11.

The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City

Helicopter crews from Intrepid also recovered the Project Mercury capsule carrying Cmdr. Scott Carpenter, the first American into space, and the Gemini 3 crew of Lt. Cmdr. John W. Young and Air Force Maj. Virgil “Gus” Grissom.

Intrepid then joined U.S. 7th Fleet to support combat operations off Vietnam,

“During the 1966 deployment, Intrepid’s naval aviators dealt powerful blows to the enemy and achieved what is believed to be one of the fastest aircraft launching times recorded by an American carrier. Nine A-4 Skyhawks and six A-l Skyraiders, loaded with bombs and rockets, were catapulted in just seven minutes, with only a 28-second interval between launches. A few days later, aircraft were launched at 26-second intervals,” according to the NHHC ship history.

In 1969, the carrier returned to the North Atlantic, sailing there until decommissioning in 1974.

The first vessel to carry the name Intrepid was captured from the Barbary state of Tripoli in December 1803. Three months later, the first Intrepid slipped into Tripoli harbor to set fire to the captured USS Philadelphia.

At the New York ceremony, Del Toro also announced the sponsor for the future USS Intrepid  would be his wife, Betty Del Toro.

She served as a military spouse for 22 years, encompassing 17 military moves, the Navy release said. Over the last three years during her husband’s time as secretary, she has met with hundreds of service members, spouses and dependents.

“I am especially proud to serve as sponsor for a ship whose name embodies American courage and resilience,” Betty Del Toro said.

John Grady

John Grady

John Grady, a former managing editor of Navy Times, retired as director of communications for the Association of the United States Army. His reporting on national defense and national security has appeared on Breaking Defense, GovExec.com, NextGov.com, DefenseOne.com, Government Executive and USNI News.

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