Wrangell Sentinel -

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi shipyard workers, Navy sailors and the family of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska gathered for the keel authentication of a ship that is named for Stevens.

The ceremonial welding March 9 marked the foundation of Ingalls Shipbuilding’s new guided-missile destroyer for the Navy, the USS Ted Stevens.

Stevens was a pilot during World War II. The Alaska Republican served in the Senate from 1968 to 2008. He was 86 when he died in 2010 in a plane crash in Alaska.

“In many ways, Sen. Stevens embodies the spirit of DDG-51 class ships: steadfast, strong and b...