As the administration of President Donald Trump announces a new class of naval battleship is to be built bearing his name, care must be taken not to repeat a mistake made in constructing a previous vessel class. The mistake became an embarrassment for the Navy but, fortunately, one from which it recovered.
I followed the development of this previous ship class closely for personal reasons.
Traditionally, the lead ship of a new class bears the same name. This will not be the case for the first Trump battleship—which is to be named USS Defiant (BBG-1)—but it was for the previous ship class and others before it.
The lead ship and the previous ship class were both named for Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr.—my late father—who, at 49, had become the Navy’s youngest ever four-star and most senior admiral as Chief of Naval Operations (1970–1974). During his tenure as head of the Navy he instituted massive personnel changes and fleet modernization programs—the former tripling re-enlistment rates and the latter challenging Soviet naval power.
At 610-feet long and a displacement of 16,000 tons, the USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000) was the world’s first stealth destroyer and biggest surface combatant. Its great stealth capability enabled it to operate in the open sea with the radars of approaching ships virtually unable to detect the warship.
Fans of the original television program “Star Trek” (1966–1969) may recall the name of the space craft’s commander as Captain James Kirk. This, ironically, was the same name of the first commanding officer of the stealth ship USS Zumwalt. In fact, the Navy’s real Captain James Kirk received a letter of congratulations from the fictional one (actor William Shatner) for his command selection.
Commissioned in 2016, USS Zumwalt was promoted as the greatest sailing threat to our enemies. However, the roar of that threat quickly transitioned into a whimper due to the Navy’s failure to abide by the principle of the 7 Ps—“Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.” Ironically, it resulted in a ship that hit the water advertised as a major threat to those committed to doing us harm, only to become an unarmed warrior.
When USS Zumwalt was launched, its main armament consisted of two bow-mounted 155mm guns which were to be used to fire the Long Range Land Attack Projectile (LRLAP). This round, having a range of 100 nautical miles (five times greater than the 16-inch guns of our battleships from World War II), was highly-precise. Each LRLAP was equipped with its own GPS capability. At $35,000 per round, they were expensive, but worth the cost.
However, an unforeseen problem presented itself as construction of the USS Zumwalt reached completion. Planning and design of the ship had begun in 1991. It would take another 18 years before its full scale construction began. By the time the ship was completed in 2016, it had run 81% over-budget—costing an estimated $4.4 billion.
Ship production initially called for 32 vessels in the class. However, with such an increased price tag to build them, the number of ships in the class was reduced to only three. The problem this presented was that the LRLAP pricing quoted by the manufacturer years earlier had been based on supplying rounds to 32 ships of the class—not just three. Thus, the cost of each round skyrocketed to $1,000,000. The Navy realized it could not now afford the LRLAP.
For several years, USS Zumwalt sailed the seas with her 155mm guns unarmed. A ship that was to provide the Navy with its greatest threat had become an embarrassment. But that profile would begin changing on August 19, 2023 when the ship entered Pascagoula Shipyard in Mississippi.
In Pascagoula, the two forward guns were removed. They were replaced with a hypersonic missile system constructed to carry the Conventional Prompt Strike (CPS) missile. The USS Zumwalt was reconstructed to carry twelve of these CPS missiles, each having a range of 2,000 nautical miles. Thus, upon completion of the transition, the USS Zumwalt will be the Navy’s first at-sea platform to field the CPS hypersonic missile. As such, it will have the capability to strike targets anywhere in the world while providing the enemy with minimal time to defend itself.
In announcing the new class of battleships to be named after him, Trump declared they would be “the best, the biggest, and the most powerful ships ever built” and that he was “making ships great again.” While the Trump class is estimated to be roughly one-third longer than USS Zumwalt and have a displacement twice as large, it is uncertain yet whether it will also carry the hypersonic missile. The Trump ship’s length will be about the same as the World War II era battleships, although some of them had up to twice the displacement it will have. Trump says construction of the first ship will start in the early 2030s and take only two-and-a-half years to complete.
But shipbuilding involves a harsh reality when it comes to meeting delivery dates, especially in the case of new class warships. The USS Zumwalt was originally to be finished by 2013. But the ship was unique from the standpoint of technology. Usually, a new technology is introduced on a pre-existing naval platform. However, USS Zumwalt introduced ten new technologies all at once—one that even included a tumblehome hull design in place of the normal flare configuration. All of this resulted in delaying delivery until 2016.
Hopefully, the Trump class will not fall victim to any delays caused due to failure by the Navy to comply with the 7Ps. And another concern about lengthy ship construction periods is the introduction of anti-Trump weapons technology that may evolve, thus not necessarily making a bigger ship better.
As great as the Trump battleship may be and fully recognizing a personal bias, I am most proud of the Navy’s posthumous recognition of my father’s contribution to the naval service. By choosing to name the DDG-1000 after him, for me at least, that vessel will always remain the Navy’s greatest warship.
