Navy Commissions USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128) in Whittier, Alaska

The short version

• Ship: USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128)
• Type: Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer
• When: Saturday, October 3, 2026, 12 p.m. AKDT
• Where: Whittier Cruise Terminal, 100 W Camp Road, Whittier, Alaska
• Radar and combat system: AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and Aegis Baseline 10
• Size and crew: about 510.5 feet long, 66 feet wide, crew of roughly 340
• After the ceremony: homeport Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia
• Commanding officer: Capt. Mary Katey Hays

When and where

The Navy set the commissioning for noon Alaska daylight time on October 3. The commissioning committee’s public page lists the site as the Whittier Cruise Terminal at 100 W Camp Road, Whittier, Alaska.

That page says guests need a ticket, that the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel will be closed to private cars for security, and that guests travel by motorcoach (or by Alaska Railroad if a seat was already set). Times and parking are on https://usstedstevens.org/. They can change. The committee page is the ticket desk, not this paper.

People outside Whittier can watch the stream the Navy named. The October 2 release says the ceremony will stream on the Defense Video Information Distribution Service at https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/38076. The Navy wrote that the live stream will begin at 11:50 a.m. EDT, and that the ceremony will begin at 12:00 p.m. AKDT. Those are two different clocks. Noon AKDT is the ceremony time.

Media questions go to the Navy Office of Information at (703) 697-5342, the number printed on the release.

The ship

USS Ted Stevens is a Flight III Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer. The hull number is DDG 128. On an October 1 tour, Alaska Public reported the ship is 510.5 feet long and 66 feet wide, with a crew of roughly 340.

The Navy said in 2019 that a new destroyer would carry Stevens’ name. Construction began in Mississippi in 2020. Alaska Public reported that the ship was launched three years later. Capt. Mary Katey Hays, the commanding officer, told Alaska Public she has been with the ship for four years, and that some sailors reported aboard only the week before Whittier.

The commissioning committee site names three sponsors: Mrs. Catherine Ann Stevens, the senator’s wife, and his daughters, Mrs. Susan Stevens Covich and Mrs. Lily Stevens Becker. The Navy’s October 2 release names the same three sponsors. It says that, in naval tradition, the sponsors will order the crew to “Man our ship and bring her to life.”

One Alaska mark is visible in visit photos. Alaska Public reported an Alaska state flag painted on the large gun on the front of the ship — the fo’c’sle, or forecastle. The Navy’s release also ties the Whittier setting to Stevens’ home state.

Radar and the job the Navy describes

The Navy’s October 2 release says the ship carries the AN/SPY-6(V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar and the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system. The release describes those systems as integrated air and missile defense, covering anti-air warfare and ballistic missile defense at the same time.

Capt. Hays used plainer words on the Alaska Public tour. She called SPY-6 “a technological leap above the earlier destroyers,” and “an all-digital radar.” She said it is “much more powerful than our previous radar.” This paper does not add range numbers, missile counts, or test scores. Those figures are not in the public facts used here.

Alaska Public reported the primary duty as missile and air defense for carrier strike groups, with a Norfolk homeport and worldwide deployment. Hays told the station, “We’re globally deployable. So wherever the mission takes us, we’ll be there.”

The October 2 release uses the phrase “America’s Golden Fleet.” That phrase is the Navy’s wording. It is not a Notice Nearby slogan.

The name

This is the first warship named for Ted Stevens. The Navy’s release describes him as a decorated World War II veteran and longtime Alaska senator. It says he was an Army Air Corps pilot who flew transport missions over “The Hump” in the China-Burma-India theater, later championed Alaska statehood, and served in the U.S. Senate from December 1968 until January 2009. During that service he was president pro tempore in the 108th and 109th Congresses, and he was the third U.S. senator to hold the title president pro tempore emeritus.

Alaska Public’s October 1 story, by Wesley Early, describes Stevens as a central figure in Alaska politics across those Senate years. The story says he died in a plane crash in 2010 at age 86. The commissioning committee site lists his dates as born November 18, 1923, and died August 9, 2010.

On a Thursday tour before the ceremony, Capt. Hays tied the ship’s name to public service. Alaska Public quoted her: “Whether it was serving in the Army Air Corps during World War II, advocating for statehood, or later on in the Senate, everything he did revolved around serving his community.” She added, “And I think that’s a really important lesson — not just for our sailors, but for everyone. We can all make our communities better.”

This paper does not score his votes. The public fact is the name on the ship, and why the Navy says the name is there.

How the ship reached Whittier

The Navy’s photo caption on the October 2 release dates the arrival in Whittier as September 27, 2026. Alaska Public reported that the ship came north from Florida, and that part of the trip went through the Panama Canal. Capt. Hays told the station there were only a few feet of room on each side in the canal locks. She compared it to parallel parking while everyone is watching.

Alaska Public reported that officials picked Whittier as a port in Stevens’ home state with access to Anchorage. The Navy’s release instead stresses Alaska’s geography and northern sea lanes. Both lines are in the public record.

Hays also described the crew’s first look at the port. “When it hit everybody is when we pulled into Whittier here, and we were like, ‘Wow!’” She said people saw otters and whales, and then had to focus on docking the ship. That is a travel note from the commanding officer, reported by Alaska Public.

A plain note on the crew

About 340 people move this ship from a Saturday ceremony in Alaska to a homeport in Virginia. Some have been with the hull for years. Some, Capt. Hays told Alaska Public, came aboard last week. Commissioning is the public moment the ship enters service. The watches after that belong to the crew.

Thank you for the work. That is a plain civic note, not a slogan, and not a stand-in for Navy orders or a family’s own send-off.

What this paper is — and is not

This is a Notice Nearby public paper by Ryan Standley / Record of Sale, LLC / Notice Nearby. It restates the Navy release of October 2, 2026, the Alaska Public report of October 1, 2026, and the commissioning committee site.

It is not legal advice. It is not a newspaper. It is not Legal Publication. It does not add length, beam, crew, radar, or combat-system figures beyond those sources, and it does not sell tickets.

Two Navy posts on X pointed at the day. A video post said, “Tomorrow, the fleet gets stronger.” A reply said the future USS Ted Stevens, “the Navy’s most advanced destroyer,” would enter service with AN/SPY-6(V)1 and Aegis Baseline 10. Those posts are sparks — a reason this paper exists — not the source of the facts above. Check the press release.

Where to verify

Primary Navy release, October 2, 2026: https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4617713/navy-announces-commissioning-of-the-future-uss-ted-stevens/

Alaska Public, Wesley Early, published October 1, 2026: https://alaskapublic.org/2026-10-01/navy-prepares-to-commission-uss-ted-stevens-destroyer-in-whittier

Commissioning committee: https://usstedstevens.org/

Public stream named by the Navy: https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/38076

Navy destroyer fact file linked from the release: https://www.navy.mil/Resources/Fact-Files/Display-FactFiles/Article/2169871/destroyers-ddg-51/

Sparks only, not the fact source: https://x.com/USNavy/status/2106119634537615817 and https://x.com/usnavy/status/2106119638945833203

Not legal advice. Not a newspaper. Not Legal Publication. Record of Sale, LLC (Oregon).

Notes and sources

1. Primary source: U.S. Navy press release, Oct. 2, 2026, “Navy Announces Commissioning of the Future USS Ted Stevens.” https://www.navy.mil/Press-Office/Press-Releases/display-pressreleases/Article/4617713/navy-announces-commissioning-of-the-future-uss-ted-stevens/
2. Alaska Public Media, Wesley Early, Oct. 1, 2026. https://alaskapublic.org/2026-10-01/navy-prepares-to-commission-uss-ted-stevens-destroyer-in-whittier
3. Commissioning committee: https://usstedstevens.org/
4. Public stream named by the Navy: https://www.dvidshub.net/webcast/38076
5. Sparks only (not the fact source): https://x.com/USNavy/status/2106119634537615817 and https://x.com/usnavy/status/2106119638945833203
6. Author: Ryan Standley / Record of Sale, LLC / Notice Nearby.
7. Discussed on @NoticeNearYou: (pending — fill xPostUrl after live post).
8. Not legal advice. Not a newspaper. Not Legal Publication. Record of Sale, LLC (Oregon).