USS Frank E. Petersen Jr. (DDG-121) is an (Flight IIA Technology Insertion) Aegis guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. The ship was named for United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General Frank E. Petersen Jr. the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general. The contract for the ship, along with the name, was first announced in a press release from Huntington Ingalls Industries on 30 March 2016.
The first "cutting of steel" took place in April 2016 and her keel was laid on 21 February 2017. She was launched on 13 July 2018. and christened on 6 October 2018. The ship was commissioned on 14 May 2022 at Charleston, South Carolina by Ms. Gayle Petersen, Lt. Gen. Petersen's daughter.
USS Frank E. Petersen Jr returned to their home port, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, 12 December 2024, after a five-month maiden deployment assigned to the Carrier Strike Group (ABECSG). Throughout deployment, Frank E. Petersen Jr. completed over 475 hours of flight quarters, 10 hours of small boat operations, conducted 17 replenishments-at-sea, 15 sea and anchor details, qualified 60 sailors in small craft action team (SCAT) and 17 sailors in Security Reaction Force Basic (SRF-B). Frank E. Petersen Jr. also welcomed six new chief petty officers, six new first class petty officers and 18 new second class petty officers.