By David Sharp, The Associated Press
BATH, Maine — The largest destroyer ever built for the Navy has headed out to sea for the first time.
The future USS Zumwalt departed shipbuilder Bath Iron Works with help from tug boats on Monday. It carefully navigated the Kennebec River before hitting open ocean.
The 600-foot-long, 15,000-ton destroyer will be undergoing builder trials in the North Atlantic. It's expected to get some tweaks before being delivered to the Navy next year.
The Navy is building three of the ships in Bath, and the first carries a cost of at least $4.4 billion. The ship has electric-drive propulsion, new radar and sonar, powerful guns and missiles, and a stealthy design to reduce its radar signature.