{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/blog/sec-hagel-visits-bath-iron-works", "Sec. Hagel Visits Bath Iron Works", "2013-11-21", "2013", "2013-11", "Independent", "House", "ME", "Angus King", "K000383", "www.king.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Thursday, November 21, 2013\n\t\t\t\t Sec. Hagel Visits Bath Iron Works \n\t\t\t\t\n                 \n\t\n\t            \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t  \t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\tOn Thursday, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel visited Bath Iron Works to\u00a0witness firsthand the shipyard's immeasurable value and significant contributions to our Navy and national defense. The men and women at BIW are among the finest shipbuilders in the world. Their commitment to excellence and dedication to building the highest quality ships is unparalleled. While visiting the facility, Sec. Hagel had an opportunity to tour the recently launched USS Zumwalt, the first DDG-1000. Department of Defense photos of his tour can be viewed here. For more information see below:\r\nHagel Visits First Zumwalt-class Destroyer\r\nBy Karen Parrish   American Forces Press Service\r\nBATH, Maine, Nov. 21, 2013 \u2013 Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the not-yet-launched Zumwalt-class destroyer he toured here today \u201crepresents the cutting edge of our naval capabilities.\u201d\r\nThe ship, now known as the Pre-Commissioning Unit, or PCU, Zumwalt, will become the USS Zumwalt, named for former Navy Adm. Elmo Zumwalt. Officials said the ship is about a year away from joining the fleet.\r\nNow littered with large protective crates storing systems not yet installed, the ship is being fitted with new automated systems. The Zumwalt, Navy officials explained, has highly accurate long-range weapons, an impressive power generation capability and a design emphasizing \u201cstealthy\u201d radar-defeating materials and shapes.\r\nThe ship will be home ported in San Diego, Hagel noted, and it \u201crepresents an important shift \u2026 in America\u2019s interests to the Asia-Pacific,\u201d he told a mixed crowd of sailors, government civilians and General Dynamics employees assembled near where the ship is docked.\r\nHagel thanked General Dynamics and its workforce at Bath Iron Works, which will produce all three of the Zumwalt-class ships planned for production. The secretary called the facility \u201ca magnificent institution that\u2019s been part of the security of this country for 130 years.\u201d\r\nThe secretary also spoke to a number of sailors and defense civilians present, who are working to get the ship ready for active duty. Hagel thanked them and their families for their service.\r\nSharon E. Burke, assistant secretary of defense for operational energy plans and programs, accompanied Hagel\u2019s delegation on the ship tour. Later, she spoke to reporters while en route to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where Hagel landed later in the day for an international security forum that starts tomorrow.\r\nBurke said that the ship\u2019s power generation capacity -- 78 megawatts, impressed her. One megawatt of power can power about 1,000 American homes.\r\nThe massive amount of available power makes the ship expandable for future weapon systems such as rail guns, which \u201ctake a lot of pulse power,\u201d Burke noted.\r\n\u201cAlso, you\u2019re running a lot of very sophisticated systems on that ship,\u201d she said. \u201cIt gives them a lot of room to be able to run all those systems.\u201d\r\nThe ship can generate 78 megawatts of power, and can channel it to propulsion, shipboard use and weapons systems. Officials said the guided missile destroyer is the first Navy ship to be fully electrical, and it was designed to use automated systems as much as possible to decrease the number of sailors needed as crew.\r\nFor example, officials said, automatic systems route, store and load the 300 rounds of 24-pound ammunition each of the ship\u2019s two 155mm guns can fire. The guns have, in testing, successfully fired at a rate of 10 rounds a minute and with 20- to 40-inch accuracy at a range of more than 60 nautical miles, officials noted.\r\n(Follow Karen Parrish on Twitter: @ParrishAFPS)", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/blog/sec-hagel-visits-bath-iron-works"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8140031024813652, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}