On Monday morning, the first-in-class Zumwalt-class destroyer left its pier at General Dynamics Bath Iron Work, headed down Maine’s Kennebec River bound for the Atlantic Ocean and its first taste of saltwater. The goal is to deliver it to the Navy sometime next year.
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The ship sailed Monday from its port in Bath, Maine for a weeklong test of its onboard systems, according to the Navy.
The Zumwalt was created to replace the Navy’s current fleet of Arleigh-Burke destroyers but cost overruns and program delays led the Navy to cap the ship’s production to three.
At 610 feet long and 81 feet wide, the first of the DDG-1000 class of destroyers is longer and thinner than the battleship USS Arizona sunk at Pearl Harbor.
Kelley Campana, a Bath Iron Works employee, said she had goose bumps and tears in her eyes. The shape of the ship’s tumblehome hull as well as the arrangement of its antennas make the ship less visible on radar, the Navy said. The Navy says the multi-mission ship will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary forces.
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