Named after the man credited with transforming the US Navy into a modern day fighting force, the USS Zumwalt was recently commissioned in a ceremony in Baltimore, Maryland.
Don Roussinos, President of Rolls-Royce Naval, presenting the ship’s Commanding Officer, Captain Jim Kirk, with a scale model of the MT30, said: “It’s a great honour to be here. There’ll always be a partnership between Rolls-Royce and the Zumwalt class ships. We’re supplying nearly 80 megawatts of power, something no other ship has, to give immediate responsiveness and flexibility on missions.”
“We’re here to celebrate this marvellous ship; this marvellous machine,” said Captain Kirk. “The technology is far and away beyond what we have today. With just 35 of the 78 megawatts of power generated, we’re going at 20 knots, using all of our weapons and sensors, heating the water, cooking the food and all the things you need from that one power system.”
“The only way you can run a ship of this complexity with just 147 sailors is by having a high degree of technology.” The stealth shape of the ship also means its radar signature is just 1/50th of that of other destroyers in the fleet. “It has new radar, sonar, missiles, propulsion system, the total computing infrastructure – it’s a fantastic ship. What’s even more fantastic is we as a Navy decided to name the ship Zumwalt – a transformational name.”