The Navy’s $4 billion guided-missile destroyer Zumwalt is slated to dock in San Diego on Thursday morning, following a slew of mechanical glitches that sidelined it for weeks in Virginia and Panama.

The most expensive and revolutionary destroyer ever built, the Zumwalt will homeport at the San Diego Naval Base.

Scheduled to undergo further modifications and testing, the Navy predicts it will be fully prepped for overseas deployments within a year.

For Navy buffs who want to watch the Zumwalt arrive, officials recommend keeping their eyes peeled along the harbor from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday.


The best places to view the destroyer include the Ferry Landing on Coronado, Shelter Island Shoreline Park and downtown’s Embarcadero.

The Zumwalt left the MEC Shipyards Balboa complex in Panama on Nov. 30, following nearly two weeks of repairs to its lubrication coolers after the sleek and stealthy destroyer lost propulsion while transiting the Panama Canal.

It was a repeat of a September mechanical problem that waylaid the Zumwalt in Virginia, but Navy technicians insist that they have pinpointed the gremlins and that the mishaps caused no permanent damage to the vessel.

Slicing through waves like a switchblade and sculpted to sneak past enemy radar, the Zumwalt is the first in its class of experimental warships built to radically reshape how the Navy vies for control of the seas.


The Zumwalt’s advanced electrical system — with enough juice to power 10 conventional destroyers — was designed for futuristic sensors and weapons that have yet to be perfected, including lasers and electromagnetic railguns.

“The only thing more impressive than the capabilities of the ship are the capabilities of its fine crew,” said Capt. James A. Kirk, the Zumwalt’s skipper, in a press release.

Originally planned for a production run of 32 ships but dogged by rising costs and lengthy delays, the Pentagon has slashed the nearly $23 billion Zumwalt-class program to only three vessels.

The second ship in its class, the Michael Monsoor, should become fully operational in 2018, with the Lyndon B. Johnson reaching the same milestone three years later, according to the Navy.


cprine@sduniontribune.com