US Navy's Largest Destroyer To Go Into Water Without Fanfare At Maine's Bath Iron Works

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

By DAVID SHARP Associated Press
October 20, 2013 - 2:17 pm EDT

BATH, Maine — After embarrassing troubles with its latest class of surface warships, the Navy is hoping for a winner from a new destroyer that's ready to go into the water.

So far, construction of the first-in-class Zumwalt, the largest U.S. Navy destroyer ever built, is on time and on budget, something that's a rarity in new defense programs, officials said. And the Navy believes the ship's big gun, stealthy silhouette and advance features will make it a formidable package.

The christening of the ship bearing the name of the late Adm. Elmo "Bud" Zumwalt was canceled a week ago because of the federal government shutdown. Without fanfare, the big ship will be moved to dry dock and floated in the coming days.

Meanwhile, the public christening ceremony featuring Zumwalt's two daughters will be rescheduled for the spring.

Read more: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/7048d45e17e0402887b8ead9434f490a/US--Navy-Destroyer

[jsr]

1. $3.5 billion for ONE ship.

[sakabatou]

3. Doesn't each B-2 cost 1 billion each?

But yeah 3.5 is a lot.

[Posteritatis]

10. Though they at least build those to last awhile

Twenty years isn't unusual for a well-designed ship, and double that isn't that out there sometimes.

[Thor_MN]

27. The RNC should have to pay for the next 7 of them

Just saying

[unhappycamper]

34. These bad boys cost somewhere between $5 ~ $7 BILLION each,

which is around what a Virginia-class submarine costs.

B-2 bombers are only $2.1 billion each.

[HooptieWagon]

44. To clarify....

The construction cost is about 3.5 billion. The R&D costs about double the the cost per ship because the order was cut from 10 ships to 3. Other costs driving up the ship price is developing systems to handle future weapons, like a magnetic gun, which are still in development stages; and propulsion systen, which is a gas turbine/electric thats first of its kind. Suppoed to be much quieter. Electrical generating capacity that could power a medium-sized city....can be divered from propulsion to weapons systems.

[zbdent]

2. On time and under budget?

Must be Bush's fault ...

[leftstreet]

4. This will surely defeat the Spanish Armada

What a fucking waste

[cab67]

26. Couldn't disagree more.

With the waste part - not with its capacity to defeat a fleet of sail-driven warships.

Seriously - our surface fleet is one of our most cost-effective systems in our arsenal. Even the smaller ships have an impressive array of electronics, which is largely what drives the cost up. And these ships will remain afloat and effective for decades.

[rickford66]

5. Zumie was OK

He let us grow facial hair. The only catch was it had to be grown out and neatly trimmed. Hard to do while it was just growing. We were allowed full facial hair in Antarctica and I was discharged with a full beard. They did make me get a regulation haircut days before that though.

[marble falls]

7. What I remember is the Z-gram telling lifers hung up on "mickey mouse regulations" to ....

leave the Navy.

[rickford66]

8. He was a breath of fresh air

I guess when he retired, the Mickey Mouse stuff returned.

[marble falls]

9. From what I heard it came back in aces and spades. Too bad.

[damyank913]

36. Didn't like him doing away with the cracker jacks...

...niether did most of the CPO's. We didn't look like sailors anymore.

[penultimate]

49. That happened in the 70's or 80's right? I father talks about how disappointed he was when he joined

because it was right around the time that change took place.

[damyank913]

53. Yes mid 70's

[msongs]

6. spokeman of the union building it would like "to build as many of them as we can" nt

[yuiyoshida]

11. That is one impresssive ship..

[ManiacJoe]

16. Anyone have any pointers on the abnormal bow design?

[Eleanors38]

19. Looks retro, as in pre-dreadnought.

[Ash_F]

20. It parts waves. /nt

[ManiacJoe]

22. So they claim.

[Ash_F]

23. mhm...I am no scientist.

...but it is probably true. Consider that ship design hasn't really changed for the last 100 years. This would be 'next gen'.

I don't care for these boondoggle war machines. If there is anything good about this, the fact that it uses half the crew means less will die if the US ever gets into a war with people who have any ability to defend themselves.

[ManiacJoe]

24. There are reasons that this bow design was abandoned ages ago.

[Ash_F]

25. Well, it could be an unmitigated disaster too.

Like the F-22 raptor that poisons its pilot's lungs.

[HooptieWagon]

30. Sailing catamarans have used it for years (10 or so)

Its a wave-piercing design that cuts through waves rather than pitching over them. It might be a little more fuel efficient and give a more stable firing platform, but probably takes a lot more green water on deck. I'm not sure how well that will work out.

[hack89]

40. It depends on how much freeboard there is

The DDG 1000 has nearly 10 feet more freeboard than the DDG-51 class so it may not be that big an issue.

[HooptieWagon]

42. Normally , not.

It would only be a problem in heavy seas. Green water on deck could wash crew overboard, damage the superstructure, and damage exposed weapons systems or electronics. Maintainence could be higher. Its probably been researched, and the benefits exceed the risks.

Interesting notes about the Zumwalt Class....length is 600', which is huge. Thats the length of a WW1 era battleship, or a WW2 era cruiser. The WW2 era Fletcher class destroyers were 325'. Crew of the Zumwalt is about 150, which is about the crew of a WW2 era Destroyer Escort. The 2-6" guns are also similar to a WW2 DE, which had 2-5" guns. Remainder of weapons are missles. The Zumwalt role is envisioned by the Navy to be similar to a battleship...primary use as a platform for shore bombardment. The 150 man crew is about 10% that of a battleship, though. Its an interesting and futuristic ship. Upfront cost is high, but operational costs should be much lower. We'll see how that works out...the littoral ships have been a bust so far.

[damyank913]

35. I think it has more to do with stealth tech...

...reflecting radar up-wards.

[Paulie]

12. One gun? What is it a Wave Motion Gun?

I see the red at the waterline... And grey above. Hmmm

[daleo]

15. That wave motion gun is something, all right

That was trippy.

[damyank913]

37. It would be hard to shoot a torpedo over the bow of a ship your trying to get to stop.

You'd be surprised at how much damage those pea shooters will do.

[hack89]

55. It has two 155mm guns. nt

[Owl]

13. More money wasted. Sad.

[2naSalit]

14. First thing it made me think of

was the "ironclads" from the Civil War. Doesn't appear to be much for a deck on that thing. Wonder how it will perform.

As an aside, when I was young my dad was stationed at NAS Brunswick and my parents had friends who lived and worked at Bath Ironworks. We used to go and see the ships being built, lots of them back then. You don't hear about the place much these days so it was a bit of nostalgia for me.

[HooptieWagon]

31. My parents live up the highway from Bath.

When I visit, I usually take a drive by. Gotta be careful, though...don't slow too much, no camera, etc...don't want to attract undue attention from security. Its a pretty impressive shipyard.
Just up the street is the Maine Maritime Museum, on the site of an old shipyard from the sail era. Its really a wonderful and fascinating museum.

[2naSalit]

32. Went there once

can't recall just how long ago but I know I've been there.

What I remember from our trips "up the coast" on many occasions driving to Acadia or Boothbay Harbor were the twin long ships run aground at Wiscasset... kind of haunting after passing by Bath.

They've been there for a really long time now, I remember them from over 50 years ago... still.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTyzm-HMmxE8yHX2OBsBCi122h0V1xTMEus1fhJCt-5HiHDHl74xmWukHHf

Kind of makes me miss the coast, kind of. I'll have to find a way to visit again someday.

[Maine-ah]

38. the ships have been gone for years now.

I live in the Rockland area.

[2naSalit]

45. How disappointing

those were a landmark as far as I knew.



Thanks for letting me know about that though. What happened to them? Did they just decay away from weathering or were they removed?

[HooptieWagon]

47. Removed.

They were collapsing, and a danger to anyone trespassing on them. I think a few parts and artifacts were saved.

[2naSalit]

48. Well

I'm not surprised, they were in a pretty bad condition. Oh well.

Thanks for the info.

[HooptieWagon]

43. Yea, my folks are in Boothbay.

Post above is correct, the 2 ships in Wiscasset have been gone for several years.

[2naSalit]

46. Just one more thing

from the past that can't be enjoyed or experienced anymore, I guess. Like the family estate on Cape Cod, sold to someone outside the family so I can't go there anymore even though that was the place I called "home" most of my life. Guess that's how it goes.

[ManiacJoe]

17. To be captained by James Kirk!

http://www.public.navy.mil/surfor/ddg1000/Pages/Bio1.aspx

[yuiyoshida]

28. I wonder if they gave him a lot of crap

at the Naval Academy?

[penultimate]

50. hehe...That's actually kinda cool.

I bet his name is what made him join the navy to become a captain.

[Scuba]

18. Funny, I don't feel safer. Strengthening Social Security would make me feel safer.

[Ash_F]

21. Yep!

I am glad to see the government has money to spend on pulverizing farmers in mud huts halfway across the globe instead of our own citizens.

[packman]

29. kind of ironic

3-5 billion ---wasn't that about what the shutdown cost us? Wonder what was the bigger waste?

[PuffedMica]

33. Shut down cost 24 billion dollars

But if we had invested 5 billion dollars into wind power, it would have a financial return on our investment as well as contribute to National Security. Anytime we can get closer to energy Independence the good, and using clean, renewable energy is even better.

[packman]

39. Well, kiss my grits

You telling me we could have built 7 of those floating do-dads , even more of a waste. You know what worries me about wind-power is what happens when we have a wind spillage? I can just see all that wind spilling all over the countryside, rustling leaves and kicking up children's kites. Lordy, the humanity.

[jmowreader]

57. Ask anyone living in Dade County in August 1992 about wind spillage

Or, for that matter, anyone living within 70 miles of the Eastern Seaboard or Gulf Coast. Wind can screw you up royally if there's enough.

[The Stranger]

41. I don't need your war machines,

I don't need your ghetto scenes.

[Ash_F]

54. Well, you are getting both. /nt

[The Stranger]

56. Well, I thought the Guess Who was Canadian.

But maybe I'm wrong.

[MADem]

51. I can remember when this vessel was an idea, a concept, in the mind of one particularly sharp flag

officer.

I hope the promise of the thing is realized, and the ship is as "smart" as we all hope it will be.

[jmowreader]

58. You mean the bottom?

That's antifouling paint. It's got lots of copper in it. Antifouling paint keeps barnacles from forming on a surface (copper kills the little bastards) so it's used on any vessel in salt water.

[workinclasszero]

59. Now you know why the teabaggers want to kill social security, food stamps, Medicare, etc

Those deadly toys to fight a war with a political entity known as the USSR which no longer exists are very very very expensive!

[warrant46]

61. Insanity on steroids

Meanwhile children and seniors will be cold and hungry this winter.