From there, the 610-foot ship heads to its homeport in San Diego.
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During a tour the Navy showed off the ship’s bridge, weaponry and mission center.
At 610-ft (186 m) long and 80.7-ft (25 m) wide, the Zumwalt is significantly larger than previous United States destroyers with 100 ft (30 m) more length and 13 ft (4 m) more beam than the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.
James Kirk, skipper of the future USS Zumwalt, stands in front of the destroyer at Bath Iron Works on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016, in Bath, Maine.
According to the US Naval Institute, the USS Zumwalt is created to operate close to shore, shares several features with stealth aircraft – like avoiding curves in the design – to keep its radar cross section low. The IPS generates approximately 78 megawatts of power, almost what a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier generates, to meet the total ship electric power requirements and provide extra capacity to accommodate future weapons and computing systems. – ReutersScreengrab of the US Navy’s most advanced surface warship from the Reuters video.
It’s headed to Baltimore, where it will be commissioned in October before going to its homeport in San Diego.
“They are capable of performing critical maritime missions and enhance the Navy’s ability to provide deterrence, power projection and sea control”, the US Navy said. However, its arrival in San Diego will not be a rest stop because it will then take part in Post Delivery Availability and Mission Systems Activation exercises before being integrated into the fleet in 2018.
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The destroyer is named for Adm. Elmo R. “Bud” Zumwalt Jr., served as the top naval officer in the early 1970s and worked to modernize America’s fleet.
