page_title: USS Zumwalt
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: USS Zumwalt / History / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: 121106-N-KQ416-026 NORFOLK (Nov. 6, 2012) The deckhouse for the future USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) sits on a barge at Norfolk Naval Station after being diverted due to weather during transit from Huntington Ingalls Industries' Gulfport Facility in Mississippi to General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine. The DDG 1000-class destroyer is designed for sustained operations in the littorals and a land attack, and will provide independent forward presence and deterrence, support special operations forces, and operate as an integral part of joint and combined expeditionary focus. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Zachary S. Welch/Released)
context_page_description: USS Zumwalt is a guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy. She is the lead ship of the Zumwalt class and the first ship to be named after Admiral Elmo Zumwalt. Zumwalt has stealth capabilities, having a radar cross-section similar to a fishing boat despite her large size. On 7 December 2015, Zumwalt began her sea trial preparatory to joining the Pacific Fleet. The ship was commissioned in Baltimore on 15 October 2016. Her home port is San Diego, California.
context_section_description: Many of the ship's features were originally developed under the DD21 program ("21st Century Destroyer"). In 2001, Congress cut the DD-21 program by half as part of the SC21 program. To save it, the acquisition program was renamed as DD(X) and heavily reworked. The initial funding allocation for DDG-1000 was included in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2007. By February 2008, a $1.4 billion contract had been awarded to Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and full rate production officially began a year later, on 11 February 2009.
  In July 2008, a construction timetable was set for General Dynamics to deliver the ship in April 2013, with a March 2015 target date for Zumwalt to meet her initial operating capability but, by 2012 the planned completion and delivery of the vessel was delayed to the 2014 fiscal year. The first section of the ship was laid down on the slipway at Bath Iron Works on 17 November 2011, by which point, fabrication of the ship was over 60% complete. The naming ceremony was planned for 19 October 2013, but was canceled due to the United States federal government shutdown of 2013. The vessel was launched on 29 October 2013.
caption: Zumwalt's deckhouse in transit on 6 November 2012
exif: {}