Honoring one of the most iconic Marines to ever load a belt of ammo into a feed pawl, the future USS John Basilone recently left the shipyard where she was built, flags flying. 

The brand new Arleigh Burke-class destroyer sailed away from General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine last week bound for New York City, where the warship will be officially commissioned on Saturday, the day before the Marine Corps' birthday. 

The ship’s namesake, Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone, received the Medal of Honor for heroism on Guadalcanal during World War II and, rather than sit back in the States and lead War Bond drives, went back to combat only to perish at age 28 on Iwo Jima, where he single-handedly destroyed an enemy blockhouse. 

During Basilone's service on Guadalcanal, he led two machine gun sections of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, where he used his detachment's M1917 water-cooled Browning machine guns and an M1911 .45 Government Issue pistol to great effect to break up a Japanese charge of some 3,000 Japanese against his emplacement. The feat earned him the nation's highest military decoration and was depicted in 2010's "The Pacific."

His Medal of Honor citation, from his public file in the National Archives:

In 1945, the Navy named a destroyer after Basilone, and in 1948, a life-sized statue of him was installed in his hometown of Raritan, New Jersey. 

The newest warship on the Navy List continues his legacy. 

The official unit crest for the destroyer that bears his name depicts Basilone's Medal of Honor, the Marine Corps' Eagle Globe and Anchor insignia, and a pair of crossed M1917s inside the Blue Diamond shoulder patch of the 1st Marine Division. 

The Blue Diamond patch and guns are carried forward to the ship's Battle Flag, which was seen flying as she left Maine last week. 

Once commissioned, the USS Basilone will be part of the Atlantic Fleet.