Meet the Zumwalt: The Navy's stealth destroyer

[Onkel Neal]

http://www.militarytimes.com/interac...ea-next-spring

The ship is plainly visible from Front Street, across the Route 1 bridge in downtown Bath. Nothing like this angular, almost hulking giant has ever been seen here, even after well over a century of shipbuilding at Bath Iron Works.

The futuristic shape of the Zumwalt, DDG 1000, has become familiar after more than a decade of graphics presentations and artist drawings, and models of the destroyer have been a staple at naval expositions for years. But now the whole ship is coming together, all construction blocks assembled and set afloat. People walk her decks and she rises and falls with the tide as all that planning turns into a real thing. She’ll take to the sea for the first time in the spring.

The epitome of naval stealth design, Zumwalt’s sleek shapes belie a ship filled with new features. Walking aboard, one of the first impressions is one of size — she is by far the largest ship ever called a “destroyer.” So, one would think, she must be roomy inside.

“You know, she is almost 16,000 tons, 610 feet long, about 81 feet abeam, you imagine that everything must be spacious,” said Capt. James Kirk, Zumwalt’s prospective commanding officer. “But when you get on her, you realize she is packed full of the equipment necessary to operate her and give her the capability to fight.”