Bath Iron Works christens Navy’s newest destroyer

Photo / Courtesy of Bath Iron Works Thousands of workers at Bath Iron Works on Maine's midcoast were involved in the engineering, design and construction of the Navy's newest guided missile destroyer, christened last weekend.

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By Renee Cordes

The U.S. Navy’s newest guided missile destroyer, built at Bath Iron Works on Maine's midcoast and officially inaugurated in a weekend christening ceremony, is now in the shipyard’s dry dock waiting to be launched in the coming weeks.

Called the USS Louis Wilson (DDG 126), the shipyard’s first Flight III destroyer is named for the late Gen. Louis H. Wilson Jr., a Mississippi-born Medal of Honor recipient and former commander of the Marine Corps. He died in 2005 at age 85.

BIW, a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE:GD), is led by U.S. Army veteran Charles Krugh, who took the helm as the company’s president in 2022.

“The shipbuilders of Bath Iron Works are committed to building Navy destroyers that will perform as needed when called upon by our nation’s Sailors,” Krugh told Saturday’s gathering of 1,500 shipbuilders, family members and invited guests.

“It is our duty to ensure they are best built so the men and women of our Armed Forces can fulfill their duty to protect our country and our families,” he added.

Gov. Janet Mills was also in attendance, as was U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine. The ship’s sponsors are Janet Wilson Taylor, the namesake’s daughter, and retired Capt. Susan Rabern, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

Work of thousands

Production on the future USS Louis H. Wilson began in 2020 when the first steel was cut, with thousands of BIW employees involved in the engineering, construction and design, according to BIW spokesman David Hench.

He said the vessel is scheduled to be launched in the coming weeks, with a lot of work to be done on the pier after that. That will be followed by a series of ship trials before the vessel is then commissioned into the fleet. He expects that to occur in 2027.

Other vessels under construction at the shipyard include the Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyers Harvey C. Barnum Jr. (DDG 124) and Patrick Gallagher (DDG 127), as well as the Flight III destroyers William Charette (DDG 130), Quentin Walsh (DDG 132), John E. Kilmer (DDG 134), Richard G. Lugar (DDG 136) and J. William Middendorf (DDG 138).

Among Maine's largest private employers, BIW is ranked No. 4 in the 2025 Mainebiz Book of Lists. Rankings are based on average monthly employment in the second quarter of 2024.