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November 17, 2021

BIW begins work on a new Navy destroyer, the 44th of its class to come from Maine

Courtesy / Bath Iron Works A burning machine at BIW's structural fabrication facility in Brunswick cuts the first steel for the future USS Quentin Walsh.
By Jessica Hall

Bath Iron Works on Tuesday began the building of a new destroyer for the Navy, cutting the first steel for the warship, the future USS Quentin Walsh.

BIW, owned by General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), celebrated the start of the construction of DDG 132 at the Maine company's structural fabrication facility in East Brunswick.

Shipfitter Mark Lancaster, a BIW employee for more than 35 years, was selected to activate the burning machine to cut the first steel for the ship. 

Courtesy / BIW
Shipfitter Mark Lancaster activates the steel-cutting machine for the new BIW destroyer.

 
The ship is the 44th of its class built in Bath and the third Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer to start construction at BIW.

Advances in radar and combat systems make the 500-foot-long guided missile destroyers the most technologically advanced surface combatants in the world, BIW said.

“Initiating construction of a state-of-the-art ship for our Navy customer is a major event in the shipyard and we are committed to building a ship of exceptional quality at every stage of the production process,” said Dirk Lesko, president of BIW. “Our workforce has shown remarkable resilience over the past 18 months and is clearly up to the challenge.”

The ship is named for Coast Guard Capt. Quentin Walsh, who led a 50-man team that captured the French port city of Cherbourg during World War II. Walsh, in a brave deception, convinced the German commander of the 300-man garrison at the city’s fort to surrender because Cherbourg had already fallen.

BIW, which employs about 7,400 workers, is one of Maine's largest employers.

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