New Destroyer Zumwalt Shaping Up

THE ZUMWALT'S WAVE - PIERCING hull is starting to take shape. The ship's bow will be at right. (General Dynamics Bath Iron Works)

A big chunk of what will become the largest destroyer ever built has been moved into the open, shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works announced Thursday.

The 180-foot long, 60-foot high hull section of the Zumwalt (DDG 1000) contains both of the ship's 155mm advanced gun systems and weighs more than 4,000 tons - bigger than a guided-missile frigate. The mid-forebody section itself is made up of several smaller sections.

Shipbuilders moved the hull section 900 feet from its assembly position inside the ship's Ultra Hall construction facility to the largest of the company's three shipbuilding ways, Bath said in a press release. The move was completed Oct. 22.

Other hull sections will be joined with the mid-forebody section to make up the ship, which when complete will be 600 feet long and displace more than 14,500 tons.

The Zumwalt is the first of a class of three ships under construction at Bath. A private keel-laying ceremony for the Zumwalt is scheduled to be held Nov. 17.

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