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.

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bath, Bath Iron Works, biw, US Navy, zumwalt
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