‘This has been phenomenal,’ Navy’s newest guided-missile destroyer USS Ted Stevens preparing for commissioning

WHITTIER, Alaska (KTUU) - The U.S. Navy’s newest guided-missile destroyer, the USS Ted Stevens, docked in Prince William Sound this week ahead of its official commissioning ceremony Saturday in Whittier.

Named in honor of the late longtime Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, the Arleigh Burke-class warship arrived in port Thursday, as crew members prepared for the Oct. 3 ceremony.

For the warship’s commanding officer, Capt. Mary Katey Hays, pulling into port marked an unforgettable milestone for the crew.

“When it hit everybody is when we pulled into Whittier here, and we were like... ‘Wow,’ and all of a sudden the lightbulbs went off and it was just like this amazing thing, like this is going to be the most special week of our lives,” Hays said during a media tour Thursday.

“I mean there were like otters out here, whales, and we were like, OK, we gotta focus on docking the ship. Everybody here gets it, the community here has been welcoming. This has been phenomenal. Just phenomenal,” she said.

Hays, a Tampa, Florida, native who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1999, highlighted the youth and responsibility of the sailors entrusted with operating the multi-billion-dollar warship.

“18 or 19 years old, maybe just graduated high school a few months ago, they’re the person responsible for steering our ship,” Hays said. “I think that’s an incredible responsibility, we have some really strong helmsman. They help keep us on course. And it’s really cool to go from high school, just a brand new sailor in boot camp, to come on out and learn how to steer a ship such as this.”

The vessel is also led by Executive Officer Cmdr. Stephen Roman and Command Master Chief Eugene J. Lee.

The ship’s official sponsors are Stevens’ widow, Catherine Ann Stevens, and his daughters, Susan Stevens Covich and Lily Stevens Becker. Former Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer first named the ship in January 2019 to honor the World War II veteran and Alaska’s longest-serving senator, who died in a 2010 plane crash near Dillingham.

Construction began in April 2020 at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship’s keel was laid in June 2021 before being launched and christened in August 2023. The Navy formally took delivery of the vessel in late December 2025.

Measuring nearly 510 feet in length with a 59-foot beam, the destroyer is powered by four General Electric gas turbine engines producing 100,000 shaft horsepower, allowing it to reach speeds exceeding 30 knots.

Saturday’s commissioning formally places the warship into active naval service.

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