Facts
Tidbits of Bath Iron Works history, trivia and notable milestones.
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Great Depression and WW II
Bath-built ships travel into Tokyo Bay to accept Japanese surrender
On June 10 in 1944, Bath-built USS Taylor (DD 468) sank the Japanese submarine RO-111 in the South Pacific. Taylor, a Fletcher-class destroyer, was launched in 1942 and had an…
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Great Depression and WW II, Post War America – 1945
USS Williamsburg (PG-56)
In 1945, Bath-built USS Williamsburg (PG-56) became President Harry Truman’s personal yacht and gained a reputation as the ‘seagoing White House.’ Dignitaries such as Winston Churchill were invited to conferences…
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Modern Era – 1962
USS NOA (DD-841) recovered astronaut and his spacecraft from the Atlantic
On February 20, 1962, the Bath-built USS NOA (DD-841) recovered astronaut John Glenn and his spacecraft in the Atlantic after he became the first U.S. astronaut to orbit the earth.…
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Modern Era
Captain Chair for Admiral Arleigh Burke
All US Navy ships have two captain’s chairs on the bridge; one on the port side and one to starboard. During the sea trials in April 1991 for DDG 51,…
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Great Depression and WW II – 1945
Astronaut Alan Shepard saves 173 sailors while aboard the USS Cogswell (DD 651)
One of the astronauts in the Apollo program was Alan Shepard, who was the first American to travel into space, and walked on the moon in 1971. Before exploring space,…
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DDG 51 Namesakes
Who are the people the BIW-built Arleigh Burke destroyers are named for? We’re often asked. Some are famous, others less so. To bridge that knowledge gap and to clarify some…
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Modern Era
Bath-Built Cruisers & Frigates
Between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, Bath Iron Works began a busy program of US Naval construction. BIW was the lead yard for the Oliver Hazard Perry class of…
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DDG 51 Class
Bath Iron Works has built more than half of the US Navy’s Arleigh Burke class Aegis destroyers. The longest-running post-WW2 program of surface combatants, the Burkes are the backbone of…
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Modern Era – 2001
The last ship to be launched down the ways
The last ship to be launched down the ways was USS Mason (DDG 87) in 2001. Although these launches usually took about ninety seconds, a lot went into a smooth…
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Modern Era – 1993
DiMillo’s Floating Restaurant
When DiMillo’s floating restaurant in Portland was in danger of going under – literally – in 1993 they looked to BIW to shore up the decrepit hull. The restaurant had…
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Arleigh Burke
ADM Arleigh Burke (1901-1996) was the most daring and inventive commander of destroyer flotillas during WW2, and a key figure in the creation of the modern US Navy. During his…
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