The largest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy headed out to sea for the first time Monday, departing from shipbuilder Bath Iron Works and carefully navigating the winding Kennebec River before reaching the open ocean where the ship will undergo sea trials.
More than 200 shipbuilders, sailors and residents gathered to watch as the futuristic 600-foot, 15,000-ton USS Zumwalt glided past Fort Popham, accompanied by tugboats.
The ship has electric propulsion, new radar and sonar, powerful missiles and guns, and a stealthy design to reduce its radar signature. Advanced automation will allow the warship to operate with a much smaller crew size than current destroyers.
All of that innovation has led to construction delays and a growing price tag. The Zumwalt, the first of three ships in the class, will cost at least $4.4 billion.
Looks really cool, but here's the problem...
Operational concerns, growing costs and fleet makeup led the Navy to truncate the 32-ship program to three ships.
Only three? Way, way too few. The navy will lose these right away in a battle with a near peer, and then what? Why not fifty at a much reduced price and loaded with missiles and torpedoes?
Are they going to put one in the Pacific, one in the Atlantic, and on in the Indian oceans? Just pathetic.
IIRC, the Captain's name is James Kirk....
ReplyDeleteBut is it James TIBERIAS Kirk? And is the first mate named Spock?
DeleteIf my name was James Kirk, I'd legally have my middle name changed to Tiberius.
DeleteThey should have called it a "cruiser" rather than a destroyer.
ReplyDeleteLooks like the Confederates have launched the new CSS Merrimack in Hampton Roads...
ReplyDeletewhat's this thing going to do in a gale? heavy seas? great big flat target. 4 billion wasted trying to look cool.
ReplyDeleteI guess Captain Kirk and his brave crew are about to find out.
DeleteThe Navy won't take ownership until the ship successfully completes its sea trials. But you know that the helmsman will ask, "Is the word given captain?" -- JT Kirk will say, "The word is given, warp speed."
DeleteIf the idiot in the white hous and his minions at defense and state have their way we will have one in New York, one in San Francisco and one in New Orleans. They will have all PC crews unable to do their jobs and therefore never leave port.
ReplyDeleteThese ships have two propulsion systems. High speed, open ocean and low speed in close. Low speed involves a gear train that needs to be oil bathed, that has to be turned on. On the Zumwalt, halfway around the world, they fired up the low speed without lube. It was in the paper when it happened and you can't find it anywhere now. I write this in August of 2024.
ReplyDelete