Washington, D.C. - Today, at the urging of Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced that a future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer will be named the USS Telesforo Trinidad. Last year, Congresswoman Jacobs, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, led a letter to the United States Navy calling for the Navy to name a ship after Fireman Second Class Telesforo Trinidad, a Filipino sailor who received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1915. 

“I applaud Secretary Del Toro for answering our call to name a ship after Telesforo Trinidad. This has been so important to folks in San Diego, especially in our Filipino community. The USS Telesforo Trinidad will honor Fireman Trinidad’s selflessness, bravery, and service, and will also, at last, uplift the proud history of Filipino and Asian American military service,” said Congresswoman Jacobs.  

Trinidad is the only Filipino sailor and Asian American sailor in the U.S. Navy to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The USS Telesforo Trinidad would be the first Navy ship named after an American national of Filipino descent.

Trinidad received the Medal of Honor for extraordinary heroism in the line of duty during boiler explosions onboard the USS San Diego (ACR-6). He brought two crewmembers to safety despite his own physical injuries from the explosion. 

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are multi-mission ships which can conduct a variety of operations, from peacetime presence to national security, providing a wide range of warfighting capabilities in multi-threat air, surface and subsurface domains.

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