Ship’s name honors Pearl Harbor Medal of Honor recipient

HONOLULU, Hawaii (AP) ― The Navy this summer plans to commission a new guided-missile destroyer named after a sailor who received the Medal of Honor for his service during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Navy said the destroyer will be commissioned on July 15 during a ceremony in Pearl Harbor.

The warship is named for Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John Finn. He fired a .50-caliber machine gun as Japanese bullets and bombs pounded the Naval Air Station at Kaneohe Bay on Dec. 7, 1941. He received the first Medal of Honor awarded during World War II.

Finn died in 2010 at the age of 100. He retired from the Navy in 1956 after three decades of service.

The Navy plans to base the ship in San Diego.