“Zumwalt’s crew has diligently trained for months in preparation of this day and they are ready and excited to take charge of this ship on behalf of the U.S. Navy”, said Capt. James Kirk.
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The 610-foot ship is designed with a wave-piercing tumblehome hull, as well as a special composite superstructure and arrangement of antennas that will significantly reduce its radar cross section, making the ship extremely stealthy and less visible to enemy radar at sea.
The ship features an angular shape that makes it 50 times more hard to detect on radar; it’s powered by electricity produced by turbines similar to those in a Boeing 777; new guns are created to pummel targets from almost 100 miles away.
A crew of 143 already has begun moving onto the 610-foot destroyer, which will remain at Bath Iron Works for a crew certification period, with commissioning scheduled for October 15 in Baltimore.
Concept and design work has been taking place on the Zumwalt class since the late 1990s, when it was known as the Land Attack Destroyer variant of the Surface Combatant 21 (SC 21) program.
Often called an “all-electric” ship, the Zumwalt distributes 1000 volts of direct current across the vessel.
Each ship in the class features a battery of two Advanced Gun Systems, capable of firing Long-Range Land Attack Projectiles (LRLAP) that reach up to 63 nautical miles, providing three-fold range improvement in naval surface fires coverage.
The Zumwalt’s hull number is DDG-1000, and the Monsoor and Johnson are DDG-1001 and 1002, respectively. Weapons systems are not yet commissioned and will be completed in her new home port of San Diego. Each ship is also equipped with eighty Advanced Vertical Launch System cells for tomahawk missiles, Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles, Standard Missiles, and Vertical Launch Anti-Submarine Rockets (ASROC) (VLA).
Construction of the class of “stealth destroyers”, which was truncated at three ships, will cost an estimated $12.74 billion. Initial plans envisioned replacing the 62 vessels of the Arleigh Burke class with 32 of the new destroyers.
The ship is named for Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, a decorated World War II veteran who became the youngest person to serve as US chief of naval operations. The second and third ships – Michael Moonsor (DDG-1001) and Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002) – are now under construction at BIW.
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The United States Navy has taken delivery of a rather odd-looking ship.
