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US Navy To Welcome Its Largest Ever Destroyer
The US Navy is ready to take ownership of USS Zumwalt, its largest and most technologically-advanced destroyer ever built.
At an expected cost of at least $4.4 billion (£3bn), it's also the first all-electric warship, powered by electricity produced by turbines similar to those in a Boeing 777.
With its angular form, Zumwalt will be 50 times more difficult to detect on radar, and will serve as the lead ship of the Navy's newest destroyer class, designed for close-to-shore operations and land attacks.
New guns have been designed to hit targets from almost 100 miles away (160kms), while advanced automation will allow the ship to operate with a considerably smaller crew than with the current generation of destroyers.
Sailors’ personal effects, uniforms, supplies and spare parts are now being moved aboard the 610-foot (186m) warship, with the Bath Iron Works shipyard expected to turn the destroyer over to the Navy this week. Electrician John Upham is quoted as saying by the Guardian:
"We've overcome lots of obstacles to get to this point. I think everybody in the shipyard is proud of the work we’ve done."
Zumwalt was launched in 2013, and sent for sea trials in December last year.
Crowds gathered along Maine's Kennebec River at the time to see the ship, which is 610 feet long and weighs 15,000 tons.
Many onlookers made comments about how the ship looks like a futuristic spaceship. Coincidentally, the ship's commanding officer's title and name is Captain James Kirk...
"Zumwalt sails for the first time," the US Navy Sea Systems Command tweeted.
Thanks to its angled hull and deck house, the ship is designed to look no bigger than a fishing boat on radar.
An employee of Bath Iron Works, Kelley Campana, was emotional speaking to the Associated Press, saying she had goosebumps and tears in her eyes as she watched the launch:
"This is pretty exciting. It's a great day to be a shipbuilder and to be an American. It's the first in its class. There's never been anything like it. It looks like the future."
The ship is not without its critics, with some saying that the 'tumblehome' hull's sloping shape makes it less stable than conventional hulls.
In naval architecture, tumblehome designs were first introduced centuries ago, with French dreadnoughts resembling the similar design of the Zumwalt class.
The U.S. Navy remains confident claiming it contributes to the ship's stealth.
Eric Wertheim, author and editor of the U.S. Naval Institute's 'Guide to Combat Fleets of the World,' said there's no question the integration of so many new systems from the electric drive to the tumblehome hull carries some level of risk.
Construction began on the ship in 2009, and is the first of three Zumwalt-class Destroyers.
See below for footage of Zumwalt heading down the Kennebec River after leaving Bath Iron Works:
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