Commissioned in 1995, the Fitzgerald honors Lieutenant William Charles Fitzgerald III, a surface warfare officer who was killed when his ship struck a mine in Vietnam in 1969. The Fitzgerald became known to a broader public on June 17, 2017, when she collided with the container ship MV ACX Crystal off the coast of Japan, killing seven sailors in one of the most devastating peacetime naval accidents in recent memory. Her crew fought to save the ship; she was repaired and returned to the fleet.