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| DDG 1000. U.S. Navy illustration |
BATH, Maine - The Navy laid the keel Thursday for its first Zumwalt-class destroyer, DDG 1000, at General Dynamics-Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine. Keel laying was once traditionally the formal recognition of the start of the ship's construction, but today's modular shipbuilding allows fabrication of the ship to begin months before. Still, the keel laying remains the ceremonial beginning of the ship. Construction of DDG 1000 began in February 2009, and it's now more than 60 percent complete and scheduled for delivery in fiscal year 2014. Construction on the second ship began in March 2010. (Source:
NNS, 11/17/11)
Gulf Coast note: Ingalls' Composites Center of Excellence in Gulfport, Miss., is building the DDG deckhouses, helicopter hangars and parts of the ships' peripheral vertical launch systems. (
Feature story on the composite center)
