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sarisataka

(18,220 posts)
Tue Feb 2, 2016, 05:10 PM Feb 2016

The Navy's Colossal Stealth Destroyer Heads Out to Sea

The Navy's Colossal Stealth Destroyer Heads Out to Sea

BATH, Maine (AP) — 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.

Kelley Campana, a Bath Iron Works employee, said she had goose bumps and tears in her eyes.

"This is pretty exciting. It's a great day to be a shipbuilder and to be an American," she said. "It's the first in its class. There's never been anything like it. It looks like the future."
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a18449/uss-zumwalt/

Why is something larger than a Balitmore- class gun cruiser called a destroyer
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The Navy's Colossal Stealth Destroyer Heads Out to Sea (Original Post) sarisataka Feb 2016 OP
Imagine if we put that kind of money into Kelvin Mace Feb 2016 #1
The Arleigh Burke DDGs are about as big as WWII era light cruisers Kaleva Feb 2016 #2
Because the navy re-defined the term "cruiser" in the late 60s. Angleae Feb 2016 #3
We have been building $2.8 billion dollars Aegis-class destroyers for a while. unhappycamper Feb 2016 #4
 

Kelvin Mace

(17,469 posts)
1. Imagine if we put that kind of money into
Tue Feb 2, 2016, 05:17 PM
Feb 2016

educating people, curing diseases, helping the poor, rebuilding our roads and bridges, developing the next generation of sustainable energy.

Nah, we spend it on new and expensive ways to kill people.

Angleae

(4,469 posts)
3. Because the navy re-defined the term "cruiser" in the late 60s.
Wed Feb 3, 2016, 12:24 AM
Feb 2016

Cruiser today means "destroyer with command facilities for an admiral."

unhappycamper

(60,364 posts)
4. We have been building $2.8 billion dollars Aegis-class destroyers for a while.
Wed Feb 3, 2016, 08:11 AM
Feb 2016

Last edited Wed Feb 3, 2016, 08:41 AM - Edit history (1)

The USS Zumwalt comes in around $7.5 billion dollars, which seems to be the trend in all the new stuff we want to build.

The USS Gerald R Ford cost $13.9 billion dollars and is only 80% complete. (The Navy took delivery of her last year - no projection on when this will be complete.)

Nor have I seen anything about when the Navy is going to shock test Ford-class machines or Zumwalt-class machines or Littoral Combat Ships.

Ka-ching.

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