USS Zumwalt Operates with 7th Fleet for the First Time

USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) approaches the Gov. William Preston Lane Memorial Bridge, also known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, as the ship travels to its new home port of San Diego, California, in 2016. *U.S. NAVY / Liz Wolter*

ARLINGTON, Va. — The guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG 1000) is operating under the command of the U.S. 7th Fleet for the first time, according to a Navy release.

The Zumwalt completed its first port call in Guam on Sept. 19, according to Commander, Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron 15 Public Affairs. This “marks the farthest it’s ever been from its home port of Naval Base San Diego since its commissioning,” the squadron’s release said.

While in the region, the Zumwalt is assigned to Task Force 71/Destroyer Squadron 15, the 7th fleet’s principal surface force.

The Zumwalt is the lead ship of a three-ship class of DDGs, two of which have been commissioned and one is still under construction. All three are or will be assigned to Surface Development Squadron One in San Diego.

The Zumwalt class has been selected to be the initial platform for the Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike capability. The ships’ Advanced Gun Systems will be removed to make way for Large Missile Vertical Launch Systems to handle hypersonic missiles because the ship’s existing Mk57 launchers for its Standard and Tomahawk missiles are too small to accommodate the CPS missile.

The Zumwalt will be the first ship to receive the modifications. The Navy’s Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion, and Repair, Bath, Maine, awarded General Dynamics Bath Iron Works a $20 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification “for procurement of long-lead time material for the Large Missile Vertical Launch System [LMVLS] launch module fabrication on DDG 1000,” an Aug. 18 Defense Department contract announcement said. Work is expected to be completed by June 2024.

The Navy plans to field the Conventional Prompt Strike capability on the Zumwalt in 2025. The Conventional Prompt Strike capability will be fielded later in the decade on the Block V version of the Virginia-class attack submarine.

The Zumwalt is commanded by Capt. Amy McInnis.