The Higgins was commissioned on April 24, 1999. Higgins is a Flight II Arleigh Burke Class Guided Missile Destroyer, the fifteenth built by bath iron works in bath, Maine. Bath iron works, known as BIW, has a long and distinguished shipbuilding tradition. Higgins is a Pacific Fleet Ship, San Diego, CA is her home port.
She deployed to WESTPAC in early 2001.