BATH, Maine — Following a first round of sea trials in which the future USS Zumwalt “performed exquisitely,” the first in a three-vessel line of “stealth destroyers” will leave Bath Iron Works for a second round of trials later this month, the Navy said Wednesday.
Sean Stackley, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development and acquisition, made the announcement Wednesday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Naval Engineers in Arlington, Virginia, according to Capt. Thurraya Kent, spokeswoman for the Navy’s acquisition directorate.
The first-in-class destroyer, known as the DDG 1000, completed its first round of sea trials in December, then returned to the Bath shipyard for repairs to one of the ship’s 12 propulsion motor drives in mid-January.
“We took that ship to sea, and I gotta tell you, it was as calm and controlled and as expertly executed as any sea detail surface warrior would be proud of,” Rear Adm. David Gale, program executive officer for ships at Naval Sea Systems Command, said at the Surface Navy Association’s annual symposium in January.
Tugs repositioned the DDG 1000 on the Bath Iron Works pier, and the ship’s hull was cut above the water line to provide the best access to repair the motor drive, Kent said.
“Work took place in the weeks following initial trials (mid-January) and was done in parallel with the activation of propulsion systems,” Kent wrote in an email to the Bangor Daily News. “The overall impact to the propulsion system was minor.”
Kent reiterated that the destroyer’s sea trials were successful and said that while one propulsion motor drive required repair the DDG 1000 remained under its own power throughout the entire sea trials.
Gale said in January that delivery of the vessel to the Navy is slated for April. Kent said the repairs have not delayed that expected delivery date.
A December 2015 report by the Congressional Research Office estimated the total cost of the first two Zumalts at $8.797 billion, with the third estimated at $3.49 billion.
That cost has increased by 37 percent since the ships were procured in the fiscal year 2009 budget.
The second Zumwalt-class destroyer, the future USS Michael Monsoor, was 84 percent complete and due to be launched by the end of June, IHS Jane’s reported in January. The DDG 1002, the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, was 43 percent complete at the time.
Bath Iron Works spokesman Matt Wickenheiser on Wednesday deferred comment to the Navy.