USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000)

The Zumwalt was commissioned at Fort McHenry in Baltimore on Saturday, October 15th. It was one event among many during Fleet Week including a blue Angels show on both Saturday and Sunday. We took a slip at Henderson's Wharf at Fell's Point for Saturday and Sunday night. We departed at 7:00am on Monday morning for the 5-hour return trip to our berth in Galesville, MD. Not long after clearing the Francis Scott Key Bridge we heard the Zumwalt announce on VHF Channel 16 that she was dropping lines for departure.

We were pretty much certain that she would catch us before we reached the Chesapeake bay Bridge and, sure enough, she did. The marked channel approaching the bridge narrows substantially. We observed her approach first through binoculars. She was a magnificent sight with the early in the morning sun glinting off one her angular surfaces. At the point that she caught us she was just 200 yards off our port beam. What a thrill!

Knowing that the Coast Guard would be on guard, we had idled back and put our boat on autopilot just outside of the channel (50 feet of water). Sure enough, with three helicopters buzzing about on overwatch, a Coast Guard rib came alongside. The rib paced us for a few minutes before asking what is our maximum speed. We believe that the Coasties were checking out our boat name in their data base and running a check on the captain's name (I). When we responded that our max speed is 8 knots they immediately sped off. At that point, even if we had turned 90 degrees and headed toward the Zumwalt, we could not have been any threat to her.

Attached are some of the pictures that we took as our baot idled along and we waved to the Coasties. They waved back and smiled but were all business. That machine gun on their bow said all that needed to be said.

There are so much controversy about his hull and how's gonna work under bad weather..
Let's see how's going on sea trial...

It bears a very slight resemblance to the ironclad Merrimack.

Should be a sight to see when she enters her home port here in San Diego.

Thanks for the cool photos. The Zumwalt passed through Jacksonville (Naval Station Mayport) this week, en route to San Diego. What a fascinating ship, with extraordinary capabilities. So far just three are planned for her class. Here's hoping the next two pass through here as well.

Great photos - thanks!

That has to be an extreme example of form following function!

Oh to be a plank owner!

Just give it time. Something will go wrong / break. Hope we never have to use her in real combat.

And there we have it. LOL :lol:

By: Sam LaGrone
November 22, 2016 8:18 AM • Updated: November 22, 2016 10:53 AM

This post has been updated with additional information on Zumwalt’s casualty and repair schedule.

USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) is pier side following an engineering casualty the ship suffered transiting the Panama Canal, U.S. Navy officials told USNI News on Monday.

The guided missile destroyer will undergo repairs at a former U.S. naval station until its fit to complete its journey to Naval Station San Diego, Calif., U.S. 3rd Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Ryan Perry told USNI News.

The ship was in the midst of a southbound transit through the canal when it suffered the casualty, Under orders from U.S. 3rd Fleet commander Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, Zumwalt is now stopped for repairs at the former U.S. Naval Station Rodman, he said.

Source links and full story.

https://news.usni.org/2016/11/22/uss-zumwalt-sidelined-panama

USS Zumwalt Breaks Down in Panama Canal – gCaptain

New and complex technology takes some time to sort out. Interestingly enough it appears that some good old low tech equipment (oil coolers) failed. The navy guy in me finds this ship fascinating! I hope to see it in San Diego in April.

Bob Cofer said:

New and complex technology takes some time to sort out. Interestingly enough it appears that some good old low tech equipment (oil coolers) failed. The navy guy in me finds this ship fascinating! I hope to see it in San Diego in April.

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I agree, I am sure she will make it.

She passed offshore Ft Lauderdale during the boat show and I saw her out there and for the life of me I could not figure out what I was looking at. There are always a handful + ships anchored off Ft Lauderdale, and I had seen pictures of Zoomer but I thought I was looking at an island or something, was weird. I was in a rental car or I would have had my bino's handy. Glad I stared and pondered as the next day the newspaper had a story about her and I put 2 and 2 together

Keysdisease said:

She passed offshore Ft Lauderdale during the boat show and I saw her out there and for the life of me I could not figure out what I was looking at. There are always a handful + ships anchored off Ft Lauderdale, and I had seen pictures of Zoomer but I thought I was looking at an island or something, was weird. I was in a rental car or I would have had my bino's handy. Glad I stared and pondered as the next day the newspaper had a story about her and I put 2 and 2 together

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She casts a very unique profile, doesn't she? I can see how it would be confusing without binocs.

I saw her (him?) in Norfolk; oddly my radar did not.

Nuttin' odd about dat!

Unfortunately her 70 mile range 155 MM Guns fire a guided round that has a price tag of..................
$800,000.00 EACH[emoji844]

It has broken down in Panama

Unfortunately it doesn't run. It has broken down in Panama:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...pensive-destroyer-breaks-down-in-panama-canal

Good to see our tax dollars put to use on expensive toys.

Keysdisease said:

She passed offshore Ft Lauderdale during the boat show and I saw her out there and for the life of me I could not figure out what I was looking at. There are always a handful + ships anchored off Ft Lauderdale, and I had seen pictures of Zoomer but I thought I was looking at an island or something, was weird. I was in a rental car or I would have had my bino's handy. Glad I stared and pondered as the next day the newspaper had a story about her and I put 2 and 2 together

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I saw too

SteveD at least we got the toy. The IRS paid out 5.2 billion to fraudulant tax return filiers recently!

Pgitug said:

Unfortunately her 70 mile range 155 MM Guns fire a guided round that has a price tag of..................
$800,000.00 EACH[emoji844]

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Maybe cheaper on Black Friday? A monument to human folly and failure, an insult to the poor.

SteveD said:

Good to see our tax dollars put to use on expensive toys.

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'Twas ever thus


Ask any delivery skipper how common breakdowns are.

HiDHo said:

SteveD at least we got the toy. The IRS paid out 5.2 billion to fraudulant tax return filiers recently!

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The IRS devotes significant resources to combat fraudulent filers. It is an incredibly difficult problem to solve, one which to the average person it would seem a simple fix should be at hand. If that were true it would have been fixed years ago.

Give a good watch.. My bet is we're watching the first and only one... too expensive, too many things to broke... and that hull is not gonna stand a heavy storm... remember me the history about the russian submarine akula..
My money is on the new litoral type lyke Independence and freedom type...

CPseudonym said:

'Twas ever thus
Ask any delivery skipper how common breakdowns are.

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After over 6 months of sea trails before Navy acceptance, we are going to have these sort of breakdowns on a delivery trip

BTW,
The Zumwalt is said to have cost $4.4 billion to build. The Navy initially planned to order over 20 of the new destroyers but cost overruns and delays caused the number of ships ordered to be reduced to just three vessels.
According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, the total program cost, consisting of three ships, will be over $22 billion.

...more Zumwalt 'stuff'

brian eiland said:

BTW this is how the initial idea was suppose to work,...a semi submersible or low profile arsenal ship patrolling the shores of hostile nations with a barge of anti-missiles that could track right up the tailpipe of anything launched against the US. Much more effective than trying to hit the opposing missile head on.

Arsenal Ship, USN - Boat Design Forums

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I sincerely hope there is more to the Zumwalts than is visible to us. Maybe the assigned task is to cruise in the Sea Of Japan (or as Koreans call it, The Eastern Sea) and knock out anything hostile coming out of N. Korea.

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That task could be accomplished with two arsenal ships that were rotating duty,...one off, one on duty at any one time. The off duty one could be close at hand in Japan.

I say semi-submerssible,.... Imagine such a vessel that was not totally a submarine, but rather floated so low in the water that just the 'coning tower' stuck out above the water surface,....decks awash most of the time. It would really present a minimal 'signature' to detection. It could be diesel-electric powered and loiter for days on end. It doesn't need great speed, or even great maneuverability. And it doesn't need a big crew. (perhaps it could be disguised as an iceberg....ha...ha)

It could be armed with multiple non-nuclear missiles designed specifically to run up the tailpipes of any ICBM launched in that part of the world. It would likely have an effectiveness of 100% in that mode.

Think of how much more effective, and far less expensive that would be compared to that giant anti missile system 'shield' they built up in Alaska

One thing all leaders have learned in battle, there is nothing 100 percent effective.

brian eiland said:

...more Zumwalt 'stuff'




[/I]
That task could be accomplished with two arsenal ships that were rotating duty,...one off, one on duty at any one time. The off duty one could be close at hand in Japan.

I say semi-submerssible,.... Imagine such a vessel that was not totally a submarine, but rather floated so low in the water that just the 'coning tower' stuck out above the water surface,....decks awash most of the time. It would really present a minimal 'signature' to detection. It could be diesel-electric powered and loiter for days on end. It doesn't need great speed, or even great maneuverability. And it doesn't need a big crew. (perhaps it could be disguised as an iceberg....ha...ha)

It could be armed with multiple non-nuclear missiles designed specifically to run up the tailpipes of any ICBM launched in that part of the world. It would likely have an effectiveness of 100% in that mode.

Think of how much more effective, and far less expensive that would be compared to that giant anti missile system 'shield' they built up in Alaska

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Hummm.. only neccesary to sink your idea is a cheap rocket torpedo... and now you have nuclear contamination on your waters.. not a good idea...
When Argentina sunk the "Sheffield" during Falkland war their send down a couple nuclear nukes, parts of the arsenal onboard. Nobody talk openly about the high risky operation to recovery those heads... Luckily, nuke were not affected by missile impact so no radiation on water.

Like the the Gerald R. Ford class of CVNs, part of the rationale for the Zoomer's towering capital cost are the various savings that the Navy expects to recapture over the life of the vessel. For example, greater automation means reduced manning requirements in nearly every department. E.g., the crew size of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is 300-plus. The Zumwalts can operate with a permanent complement of 140. Consider the cost of training, paying and sustaining three crew watches over the anticipated forty to fifty-year life of a modern USN warship. The savings add up fast.

In another example of fiscal and technological innovation, the Zumwalt ships are engineered for mission flexibility. Deployed as ocean escorts or guard vessels, they carry a set of equipment packages that are expressly configured for that purpose. Different weapons and support packages are tailored for littoral operations, etc. The flexibility exists to develop future packages for missions that the designers may never have contemplated.

Those packages are modules that can be serviced and updated ashore more quickly and at less cost than taking an entire vessel offline for an extended dockside availability. When the ship and module are ready, that package can be loaded aboard and plugged into the ships' networks. On board accommodations exist so that different mission specialist teams can move on and off the ship as needed, without the need to disrupt the regular ship's complement, or their duty rotations.

A lot of smart planning went into these ships. The U.S. is a country that needs a Navy. The Burkes are still impressively capable, but their design and technologies will soon be obsolete, and they have to be replaced by something. This is what the Navy came up with, and I find it dazzlingly sophisticated.

brian eiland said:

After over 6 months of sea trails before Navy acceptance, we are going to have these sort of breakdowns on a delivery trip

BTW,
The Zumwalt is said to have cost $4.4 billion to build. The Navy initially planned to order over 20 of the new destroyers but cost overruns and delays caused the number of ships ordered to be reduced to just three vessels.
According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, the total program cost, consisting of three ships, will be over $22 billion.

Click to expand...

Again I say

'Twas ever thus

Seawolf submarines anybody, to name just one of literally one hundred.

What Blissboat said!