With those words, Sponsor Michelle Sterett Bernson brought Sterett's crew running from the pier to man the rails amid the sounds of the ship's horn, claxon and every bell and whistle she could muster!
In attendance were Governor O'Malley, Senator Milkulski Navy Secretary Winter and top brass from the Navy and the shipbuilder Bath Iron Works, plus the all the subcontractors who helped build the newest STERETT.
Even the spirit of Andrew Sterett appeared out of the smoke of the Constellation's cannon salute to the new STERETT. Images of the Commissioning 
baltimoresun.com
USS Sterett unveiled, set to sail
By Euna Lhee
Sun Reporter
August 10, 2008
The USS Sterett,
the Navy's newest $1.3 billion guided-missile destroyer, was
commissioned in the Port of Baltimore yesterday evening in an hourlong
ceremony, complete with cannon fire and marching band performances.
The warship was berthed at South Locust Point Cruise Terminal, next to the historic Constellation, which was moved from its usual Inner Harbor mooring for the occasion.
Those
in attendance included Gov. Martin O'Malley, Secretary of the Navy
Donald C. Winter, Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski and Archbishop of Baltimore
Edwin F. O'Brien. Greg Sterett, a descendant of the ship's namesake,
boarded the ship in Colonial garb.
Navy officials addressed the crowd of several thousand, which included active members of the Navy and Marine Corps.
Named for Baltimore-born 19th-century naval officer Andrew Sterett, the Sterett is the first major naval ship to be commissioned here in nearly 25 years. It has a crew of 280.
The vessel's radar can pick up objects as small as a fly and detect potential hazards more than 100 miles away.
The Sterett,
which took four years to build, left its shipyard in Bath, Maine, at
the end of June for a month of at-sea testing and arrived in Baltimore
last week. It will leave the city tomorrow and sail to its home port in
San Diego.
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