BIW puts new destroyer into the water

BATH — The largest destroyer ever built for the U.S. Navy is getting into the water for the first time.

Without fanfare, Maine’s Bath Iron Works on Monday began the process of floating the 610-foot-long Zumwalt from a dry dock in the Kennebec River. Eventually, tugboats will position the warship dockside, where shipbuilders will continue working on it through the winter.

A christening ceremony with several thousand invited guests was canceled earlier this month because of the partial federal government shutdown.

The Navy shipbuilder hopes to hold a rescheduled ceremony in the spring and sea trials will begin a year from now.

: The first-in-class Zumwalt, the largest U.S. Navy destroyer ever built, floats off a submerged dry dock in the Kennebec River on Monday.

: The first-in-class Zumwalt, the largest U.S. Navy destroyer ever built, is seen in dry dock Monday in Bath. The ship features an unusual wave-piercing hull, electric drive propulsion, advanced sonar and guided missiles, and a new gun that fires rocket-propelled warheads as far as 100 miles. Unlike warships with towering radar- and antenna-laden superstructures, the Zumwalt will ride low to the water to minimize its radar signature, making it stealthier than others.