(17 Apr 1999) English/Nat
Britain's World War Two premier, Sir Winston Churchill, was remembered by the Americans on Saturday.
The United States Navy named a new destroyer after him, and it's the only active U-S warship named for a foreigner.
Churchill is one of the many important figures of the 20th century and is remembered by many as the fiery prime minister who vowed during the early days of World War II that Britain would never surrender.
Officials launched the U-S-S "Winston Churchill" at a ceremony at Bath Iron Works in Maine, an American state at the northern most tip of the east coast.
Churchill's only surviving child, 76 year old Lady Mary Soames, was on hand to christen the Aegis-class destroyer - with the help of Defence Secretary William Cohen's wife.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"On behalf of the United Kingdom and in memory of my father I wish you fair winds and following seas."
SUPER CAPTION: Lady Mary Soames, Churchill's Daughter
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"On behalf of the American people, the United States Navy, my husband the Secretary of Defense and the beautiful hearts and hands that built this magnificent ship and for those who will sail it and defend it, I send my spirit to its namesake. I christen thee Winston S. Churchill."
SUPER CAPTION: Janet Langhart Cohen, U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen's wife
Lady Mary Soames and Janet Langhart Cohen cracked champagne bottles against the hull of the vessel to celebrate as streamers filled the air at Bath Iron Works.
The 800 million dollar vessel will weigh more than 8-thousand tonnes when fully loaded and delivered to the Navy.
Advanced radar enables the destroyer to simultaneously wage battle with planes, ships, submarines, and incoming missiles and torpedoes.
The warship will carry Tomahawk cruise missiles, Harpoon missiles, torpedoes and other weapons.
It is built to withstand chemical attacks and it's capable of cutting through the water in excess of 30 knots.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We have joined with our valiant allies, our British friends, in the common cause of peace and prosperity, and so today we christen Winston S. Churchill to ensure that the lamp of liberty he lighted continues to burn brightly. That as a nation we remain worthy of the motto of this ship 'in war resolution, in peace goodwill', and that we preserve peace and freedom in the unknowable tests that will come."
SUPER CAPTION: William Cohen, United States Secretary of Defense
British Defence Minister George Robertson told the large audience the man for whom this ship is named gave the world hope in the darkest hours.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"So in today's troubled times, when new and very immediate dangers and threats face us all our alliance for freedom and democracy has been reborn in the confrontation with a profound and merciless evil that we see today in Kosovo. And if the shock waves of ethnic hatred and savagery are not going to consume us then we have to defeat this threat, not just for stability in the troubled Balkans but the threat that it represents to the rule of law to civilization and to human decency as well."
SUPER CAPTION: George Robertson, British Defense Minister
Although the U-S-S Churchill will be the only active vessel named after a foreigner, it should be noted that Churchill's mother was an American and that he was declared an honorary U-S citizen in 1963, two years before his death.
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