Military

Home sweet home for US Navy's largest ever destroyer

Home sweet home for US Navy's largest ever destroyer
USS Zumwalt is the first in her class
USS Zumwalt is the first in her class
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The guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) transits the San Diego channel on its way to her new homeport at Naval Base San Diego
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The guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) transits the San Diego channel on its way to her new homeport at Naval Base San Diego
USS Zumwalt is the US Navy's largest destroyer
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USS Zumwalt is the US Navy's largest destroyer
USS Zumwalt is the first in her class
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USS Zumwalt is the first in her class
USS Zumwalt has advanced stealth architecture
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USS Zumwalt has advanced stealth architecture
USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) steams through San Diego Bay after the final leg of her three-month journey en route to her new homeport
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USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) steams through San Diego Bay after the final leg of her three-month journey en route to her new homeport
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The US Navy's largest and most technologically advanced destroyer, the USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000), arrived at its new homeport of San Diego, California today. The first-in-class warship left the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine on September 7 and made passage through the Panama canal, making goodwill visits to various ports along the way.

According to the Navy, the US$4 billion Zumwalt's advanced design meant the crew has been kept extremely busy at training exercises as they familiarized themselves with the ship's operations since the Navy took formal possession of it last May. In addition, the vessel suffered many teething incidents, including a propulsion malfunction en route to its commissioning ceremony in Baltimore and another breakdown in the Panama canal.

Named after Admiral Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., former chief of naval operations from 1970 to 1974, the Zumwalt is notable for its composite superstructure and wave-piercing tumblehome hull designed to make it 50 times stealthier than current ships, which will help it in its task as a multi-mission land attack and littoral dominance warship. In addition, it's the first US Navy ship with an integrated power system capable of both providing propulsion and powering the next generation of directed energy weapons.

USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) steams through San Diego Bay after the final leg of her three-month journey en route to her new homeport
USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) steams through San Diego Bay after the final leg of her three-month journey en route to her new homeport

"We have looked forward to pulling into San Diego for a long time," said USS Zumwalt Commanding Officer Capt. James A. Kirk. "I can't express enough, how proud I am of the crew's hard work in bringing Zumwalt to the West Coast."

The break-in period will continue as Zumwalt will now begin installation of combat systems, testing and evaluation, and operation integration with the fleet.

Source: US Navy

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4 comments
4 comments
Island Architect
Looks to me like the hull should be slightly darker and a tad warmer to be more invisible.
And subtle blended variations might be very elegant and effective.
keith14
It looks to be an easy target. With it's oversize super structure. Might as well paint a target on it.
JamesPierson
The future is here. It seems some are still living in the 20th century.
ljaques
@Island Architect, the Zumwalt is a stealth ship, so it's invisible to radar. I agree with a camo paint job would look better. From the air, it would be hard to miss a huge ship leaving a white wake stream behind it when it was under steam, though, knowwhatImean,Vern? The Zumwalt addressed that and it puts out a lot less of a wake as a result. Look at the profile from the front. Talk about knife-edged! http://www.jamesgzumwalt.com/the-latest-pictures-of-the-uss-zumwalt/ . I'm not surprised Capt. James T. Kirk's other brother liked moving to LoCal.