USS Peterson (DD-969), named for Lieutenant Commander Carl Jerrold Peterson (1936–1969), was a Spruance-class destroyer laid down by the Ingalls Shipbuilding Division of Litton Industries at Pascagoula, Mississippi. Peterson was sponsored by Mrs. Miriam C. Peterson, the mother of LCDR Carl J. Peterson. Matron of Honor was Peterson's sister, Mrs. John F. Elliott. She was commissioned on 9 July 1977 and decommissioned on 4 October 2002.