| The Arleigh Burke destroyer is America's most modern surface warship. This sleek, 500-foot long vessel bristles with state of the art weapons and technology. Armed with long-range cruise missiles, 5-inch main guns, torpedoes and phalanx CIWS high-speed cannons, this extremely fast and stealthy warship will be the mainstay of the United States Navy's forward projection of force well into the 21st century. At the Bath Iron Works in Maine – one of only two Arleigh Burke-capable shipyards in the country – follow the construction of one of these impressive vessels from its keel laying to its initial slide into the Kennebec River. The ship is built like a jigsaw puzzle: Individual, pre-fabricated sections are stacked and welded to the keel as the ship grows. But, this is no toy. Computer-aided design and highly specialized machines are used to diagram and fabricate each section of the ship – some weighing as much as 250 tons and standing over three stories tall. It takes a crane that weighs over 300 tons just to maneuver these giant pieces into place. Then it's up to a small army of pressman, blacksmiths, flame sprayers, plasma cutters and more to finish the interior compartments, piping and electrical wiring. When it's all finished – over a year and a half later – a truly modern marvel of naval engineering is sent proudly out to sea. |
