Wire: Keel-Laying Saturday for Gerald R Ford Carrier

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14, 2009 -- Newswire services this morning reported that a keel-laying ceremony is scheduled for the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford at the Virginia shipyard where the $5.1 billion nuclear-powered ship is being assembled.

The Associated Press said the 38th president's daughter, Susan Ford Bales, is the ship's sponsor and will attend the ceremony Saturday at Northrup Grumman Shipbuilding's Newport News shipyard. Her initials will be chalked onto a metal plate that will be welded to the keel.

Bales said her father learned of the naming before his death nearly three years ago. She said he was "very moved" by the honor.

The aircraft carrier is scheduled for delivery to the Navy in 2015. It will be the first in the Ford-class series.

Ford served on the carrier USS Monterey during World War II.

(Report from newswire sources.)