Maine shipyard christens destroyer named for Vietnam POW

Stockdale was a friend of author Tom Wolfe, who was fascinated by his research into Stoicism and was inspired to make the ancient philosophy a central theme of his 1998 best-seller, "A Man in Full," Sidney Stockdale said.

After retiring from the Navy in 1979, James Stockdale served as president of The Citadel and later became a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He wrote several books, including his 1984 autobiography "In Love and War," co-written with his wife, which became a made-for-television movie.

Noting that the new destroyer's motto is "Return with Honor," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said "Admiral James Stockdale did just that, and our nation is forever indebted to him. I know that all who serve on the ship that bears his name will do the same."

Other speakers at the christening included Adm. Patrick Walsh, the vice chief of naval operations, and Reps. Tom Allen and Michael Michaud, both D-Maine.

About two dozen antiwar demonstrators brandished placards outside the shipyard as guests arrived. Police said the protest was peaceful and there were no arrests.

The Stockdale, the 56th destroyer of the Arleigh Burke class and the 30th to be built at Bath, is scheduled to undergo sea trials in September and be delivered to the Navy a month later. It will sail early next year to its home port of San Diego, not far from where its namesake had retired.

The shipyard is in line to build four additional Burke vessels before it completes the transition to the new DDG-1000 Zumwalt class, a larger, more stealthy destroyer whose prototype is expected to be delivered in 2014.