Navy destroyer named for Penn State graduate

The Navy’s newest destroyer will be named after a Penn State graduate who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his herosim in Afghanistan on June 28, 2005.

Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced this week that the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named the Michael Murphy.

Murphy, of Patchogue, N.Y., graduated from Penn State in 1998 with a degree in political science. On June 28, 2005, he was the officer in charge of a SEAL team tasked with locating a high-level Taliban militia leader in the region near Asadabad, Afghanistan, when they came under fire from a larger enemy force.

Murphy, mortally wounded, left his position of cover to get a clear signal to communicate with his headquarters and, while being repeatedly shot at, called for support for his team. He returned to his cover position to continue the fight until he succumbed to his wounds, according to the Navy’s account. It was for these actions that he was last year awarded the Medal of Honor.

The destroyer Michael Murphy, with a crew size of 323, uses a gas turbine propulsion system and will be able to operate independently as as part of carrier strike groups, surface action groups, amphibious ready groups and underway replenishment groups, according to a Navy news release.