Warship to be named for LBJ heads to ocean for sea trials
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BATH, Maine (AP) — The last of a new class of stealth destroyers left the Maine coast for sea trials Friday.
The ship, the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, was constructed at Bath Iron Works. The trials will be the first time the ship hits the Atlantic Ocean.
The warship is the last in a class of three ships the U.S. Navy has touted as the largest and most technologically sophisticated destroyers in its history. The ship is 610 feet (186 meters) long. The Arleigh Burke-class destroyers constructed in Bath starting in the late 1980s were a little less than 510 feet (155 meters).
The new ship left 113 years to the day after Johnson was born. He died in 1973.
“We’re honored to send this wonderful ship to sea trials on the birthday of its namesake, President Lyndon B. Johnson,” said David Hench, a Bath Iron Works spokesperson.
The 36th president's daughters christened the warship at a ceremony in Bath in 2019.
