The U.S. Navy launched the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson on Sunday at the General Dynamics’ Bath Iron Works shipyard in Bath, Maine, the Naval Sea Systems Command said Monday.
The multi-day launching saw the Zumwalt-class destroyer transferred from a land-level platform to a dry dock where fine-tuning operations will take place once the dock is flooded and the ship is afloat on the Kennebeck River. DDG 1002Â has an electric propulsion system, a wave-piercing tumblehome hull and a stealth design intended to support a variety of command and control, power projection, sea control and deterrence missions.
“With the first two ships of the class underway, we are excited to continue the next phase of construction of the future Lyndon B. Johnson,” said Capt. Kevin Smith, DDG 1000 program manager for the Navy’s Program Executive Office Ships.
Lyndon B. Johnson is named after the 36th U.S. president and is the third and final DDG 1000 in the Zumwalt-class design. The Navy expects to christen the ship in the spring of 2019.
