USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee

For other ships with the same name, see USS Higbee.

USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) is an Arleigh Burke-class (Flight IIA) Aegis guided missile destroyer. She is named for Chief Nurse Lenah H. Sutcliffe Higbee (1874–1941). Sutcliffe Higbee was a pioneering Navy nurse who served as Superintendent of the U.S. Navy Nurse Corps during World War I and the first woman to be awarded the Navy Cross.^[3]

USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee on 8 May 2023
History
United States
Name	Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee
Namesake	Lenah Higbee
Awarded	3 June 2013
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding
Laid down	14 November 2017
Launched	27 January 2020
Sponsored by	Louisa Dixon Virginia Munford Rolanda Pickett Wilson
Christened	24 April 2021
Acquired	30 November 2022
Commissioned	13 May 2023
Homeport	San Diego
Identification	Hull number: DDG-123
Motto	Bellatrix illa, "She Is a Warrior"[1]
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics [2]
Class & type	Arleigh Burke-class destroyer
Displacement	9,217 tons (full load)
Length	513 ft (156 m)
Beam	66 ft (20 m)
Propulsion	4 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines 100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Speed	31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph)
Complement	380 officers and enlisted
Armament	Guns: 1 × 5-inch (127 mm)/62 Mk 45 Mod 4 (lightweight gun) 1 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Phalanx CIWS 2 × 25 mm (0.98 in) Mk 38 machine gun system 4 × 0.50 inches (12.7 mm) caliber guns Missiles: 1 × 32-cell, 1 × 64-cell (96 total cells) Mk 41 vertical launching system (VLS): RIM-66M surface-to-air missile RIM-156 surface-to-air missile RIM-174A standard ERAM RIM-161 anti-ballistic missile RIM-162 ESSM (quad-packed) BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile RUM-139 vertical launch ASROC Torpedoes: 2 × Mark 32 triple torpedo tubes: Mark 46 lightweight torpedo Mark 50 lightweight torpedo Mark 54 lightweight torpedo
Aircraft carried	2 × MH-60R Seahawk helicopters
Aviation facilities	Double hangar and helipad

Construction

USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123) at Naval Base San Diego, October 2024

Ingalls Shipbuilding was awarded the contract for Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee in June 2013, and began fabrication of the vessel in January 2017.^[4] The ship's keel was laid in a ceremony at the Ingalls shipyards on 14 November 2017, and sponsored by Louisa Dixon, Virginia Munford, and Rolanda Pickett Wilson.^[5][6] She was launched on 27 January 2020, and christened on 24 April 2021 in Pascagoula, Mississippi.^[7] On 30 November 2022, Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee was delivered to the Navy,^[8][9] and commissioned in Key West, Florida, on 13 May 2023.^[10][11]

Service history

Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee unveiled a new battle flag in 2025, the flag pays tribute to the first female naval nurses. The flag shows the number 20 surrounded by 20 gold stars.^[12]