Destroyer christened with namesake Nitze in attendance at BIW

BATH – Paul H. Nitze, a 97-year-old former Navy secretary and arms negotiator, was on hand Saturday as a warship bearing his name was christened with champagne at Bath Iron Works.

Nitze smiled broadly from his wheelchair as his wife swung the bottle against the destroyer Nitze’s bow, a band broke into “Anchors Aweigh” and red, white and blue streamers and confetti shot into the air.

The event, held as U.S. soldiers battled insurgents a world away in Iraq, marked only the eighth time in U.S. Navy history that a warship was named for a living person, a Bath Iron Works spokesman said.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins recalled Nitze’s colorful career as a Navy secretary who improved sailors’ lives, as a high-ranking defense official during the Cuban Missile Crisis and a hard-nosed arms negotiator.

Nitze, who served under eight presidents, was one of the architects of the U.S. policy of containment of the Soviet threat. He has a summer home in Northeast Harbor.

“The Cold War was unlike any other war in history,” Collins said. “The policy crafted by Secretary Nitze worked. Freedom won. Communism lost.”

As Collins spoke, about 60 peace activists gathered outside the shipyard, beating drums and waving signs. The demonstration did not disrupt the event, and there were no arrests, said Bath police Lt. Joel Merry.

Nitze was accompanied by his wife, Elisabeth “Leezee” Porter, who served as the ship’s sponsor, and other family members.

Before smashing the bottle, Porter stood next to the ship and waved to her husband, who waved back as he sat draped in a flag bearing the ship’s crest and motto. Then she broke the bottle to cheers of hundreds of onlookers.

Porter said Nitze was surprised when then-Navy Secretary Richard Danzig announced a guided missile destroyer would be named for Nitze.

“As a former secretary of the Navy himself, he knew that it was unusual to name a ship for a living American and he was really thrilled,” she said.

Nitze served as Navy secretary from 1963 to 1967, and “was one of the guys who had the vision to make the Navy better for enlisted men,” said Cmdr. Michael Hegarty, who will serve as the warship’s captain.

After his stint as Navy secretary, Nitze made his mark as an arms negotiator during the SALT talks. Later, he opposed ratification of SALT II because he feared the Soviets would rebuild arms.

He was President Reagan’s chief negotiator for intermediate range nuclear missiles and later became special adviser to the president and secretary of state.

Hegarty said future crew members are required to watch a video on Nitze’s life before they come aboard the warship.

Photos of Nitze will be placed in the mess and in hallways. There will be a library in the wardroom featuring books and professional papers written by Nitze, including his memoir, “From Hiroshima to Glasnost.”

Saturday’s christening under sunny skies marked the third at Bath Iron Works since completion of a $240 million land-level transfer facility designed to make the shipbuilder faster and more efficient.

The Nitze, like the Chafee and Momsent before it, was floated in a dry dock instead of being launched into the Kennebec River.

Equipped with cruise missiles and other armaments, the ship is designed to withstand chemical attacks while advanced radar enables it to wage battle simultaneously with enemy airplanes, warships and submarines.