The USS William P. Lawrence is en route to its new home port of San Diego and is scheduled to arrive here Friday. The USS Lawrence is the Navy's newest destroyer, and was commissioned in Mobile, Alabama at the beginning of June.
The Navy named the guided-missile destroyer after Vice-Admiral William P. Lawrence, who was the first naval aviator to accomplish the feat of flying twice at the speed of sound. Lawrence was also a prisoner-of-war in North Vietnam for six years. He passed away in 2005.
According to a Navy news release:
Mobile, Alabama television station Fox10TV toured the USS Lawrence earlier this month as it was prepped for commissioning, and has this video feature:
