New ship named for hero

The Navy's newest Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named after Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Michael Murphy, the Pearl Harbor officer who sacrificed his life to save his Navy SEAL team three years ago during a firefight in Afghanistan.

USS Michael Murphy » Destroyer class: Arleigh Burke » Builder: Bath Iron Works, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems » Propulsion: Four General Electric LM 2500-30 gas turbines » Length: 509 1/2 feet » Beam: 59 feet » Speed: In excess of 30 knots (34 mph) » Armament: Standard missiles; Vertical Launch ASROC missiles; Mk-46 torpedoes; Sea Sparrow missiles » Aircraft: Two MH-60 B/R helicopters with Penguin/Hellfire missiles and Mk 46/Mk 50 torpedoes » Crew: 323 (23 officers and 300 enlisted) Source: U.S. Navy

Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter made the announcement yesterday at a ceremony in Lake Ronkonkoma, N.Y., held at the park named after Murphy. The park is located at the lake where Murphy worked as a lifeguard before he enlisted in the Navy.

It contains a black granite wall dedicated to the men lost June 28, 2005, in Operation Red Wing, with each member's name inscribed. A black granite stone embedded in the plaza bears the picture of Murphy and his Medal of Honor.

"Michael Murphy's name, which will be forever synonymous with astonishing courage under fire, will now be associated with one of the U.S. Navy's most technologically advanced, most powerful and most capable warships," Winter said.

Attending the ceremony were members of Murphy's family, including his father, Dan; mother, Maureen; brother, John; and his grandparents.

The keel of the USS Murphy -- the 82nd Arleigh-Burke destroyer -- will be laid in June. The 9,200-ton warship will be commissioned in June 2011. It is being built by Bath Iron Works, a General Dynamics company. The Navy has not decided where the destroyer will be home-ported.

Last month, attempts by City Councilman Charles Djou to rename the Makalapa Neighborhood Park after Murphy were put on hold because of resistance by the SEAL Naval Special Warfare Foundation Hawaii, the Aiea Neighborhood Board and City Councilman Romy Cachola, who represents the area. The SEAL group has told Djou that they will meet this month and return with a new proposal on naming a park in honor of Murphy.

One of the ideas Djou said his staff is researching is renaming Fort Ruger Park, better known by Kahala residents as "triangle park" because of its shape, as the "Medal of Honor Park" to honor all recipients from the islands who have earned the nation's highest medal for valor.

Three years ago Murphy led a four-man SEAL team from Pearl Harbor that was tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in the mountainous terrain near Asadabad. The SEAL team was ambushed by a large enemy force. Mortally wounded, Murphy left his position of cover to communicate with his headquarters. While being shot at repeatedly, Murphy calmly provided his unit's location and requested immediate support.

Nineteen Navy SEALs and Army special warfare specialists, including Murphy, were killed in the ambush. Of the 19 sailors and soldiers killed, five were Navy SEALs assigned to Pearl Harbor's SEAL Delivery Team 1.

CORRECTION Thursday, May 8, 2008 The SEAL Naval Special Warfare Foundation Hawaii has told City Councilman Charles Djou that the group will meet this month and return with a new proposal on naming a park in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Michael Murphy, a Pearl Harbor officer. Originally, this article said the group had told Djou that he should return with a new proposal.