BATH, Maine – General Dynamics Bath Iron Works celebrated the start of fabrication of the future USS J. William Middendorf (DDG 138) today, May 19 at the shipyard’s Structural Fabrication Facility in Brunswick.
DDG 138 is the 47th of its class built at Bath Iron Works and the sixth Flight III Arleigh Burke destroyer to start construction at the Maine shipyard. Advancements in radar and combat systems make Flight III Arleigh Burkes the most technologically advanced surface combatants in the world.
Frances Middendorf, daughter of the namesake and a sponsor of DDG 138, activated the burning machine to cut the first steel for the ship.
Charles F. Krugh, president of Bath Iron Works, said construction of this ship, the latest in the Arleigh Burke class, will benefit from the accumulated skill and wisdom of thousands of talented shipbuilders.
“This ship’s construction will incorporate many improvement strategies recommended by our shipbuilders ‒ processes and practices that are designed to deliver DDG 138 as soon as possible to the U.S. Navy while maintaining our reputation for Bath-built quality. Our nation needs this ship to perform exactly as expected when called upon.”
The ship is named for the late J. William Middendorf, who served his country as a Navy officer, Secretary of the Navy, Ambassador to the Netherlands, Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States and U.S. Representative to the European Union
In addition to the J. William Middendorf, Bath Iron Works currently has under construction the Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127) as well as the Flight III destroyers Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126), William Charette (DDG 130), Quentin Walsh (DDG 132), John E. Kilmer (DDG 134) and Richard G. Lugar (DDG 136).
