Bath Iron Works Marks DDG 111 Keel Laying With First 'Ultra' Unit

Representatives of the U.S. Navy and Bath Iron Works recently participated in a brief shipyard ceremony to mark the keel laying of Spruance (DDG 111), BIW's 33rd DDG 51 Arleigh Burke-class destroyer.

The Spruance keel unit, a 900-ton ship module, had earlier been moved to its shipbuilding station on BIW's Land Level Transfer Facility (LLTF) using multiple self-propelled mobile transporters.

This module, the first in BIW's 124-year history to encompass the full girth of the ship, from the keel to the weather deck, is also the first Ultra Unit to be completed in the shipyard's new Ultra Hall facility which opened in 2008.

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