USS Arleigh Burke, named for Admiral Arleigh A. Burke, USN, is the lead ship of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyers. She was laid down by the Bath Iron Works company at Bath, Maine, on 6 December 1988, and launched on 16 September 1989 by Mrs. Roberta Burke. The Admiral was present in person at her commissioning ceremony on 4 July 1991, which was held on the waterfront in downtown Norfolk, Virginia.