The U.S. Navy on Wednesday commissioned a new guided missile destroyer named Daniel Inouye in honor of the late U.S. senator at a ceremony in Hawaii.

The first U.S. Navy vessel named after an American of Japanese ancestry will have its homeport at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickham. Inouye, the first Japanese-American member of Congress, served as a Hawaii representative in the Senate from 1963 until he died in 2012.

"Senator Inouye's life is one to be emulated and the crew of this warship will not only be inspired by his legacy, but will stand the watch with the honor and dignity deserving of a ship bearing his name," U.S. Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said in a statement.