Bath Iron Works launches future USS William Charette destroyer

NewsMaritime Security – ByColton Jones – Aug 14, 2026 – Modified date: Aug 14, 2026

Key Points

• Bath Iron Works christened the future USS William Charette (DDG 130) Aug. 1 and launched it into the Kennebec River days later.
• DDG 130 is the fifth Flight III Arleigh Burke-class destroyer and the second built at Bath Iron Works, named for Medal of Honor recipient William Charette.

General Dynamics Bath Iron Works said this week that the future USS William Charette (DDG 130) has cleared two construction milestones, moving the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer a step closer to joining the U.S. Navy fleet.

The shipyard christened the vessel Aug. 1 in its dry dock in Bath, Maine. Days later, the ship launched into the Kennebec River, where it will remain pierside while crews continue outfitting work toward the next milestone, known as Aegis Light Off. That milestone marks the first time the ship’s Aegis combat system is powered up and tested aboard the vessel.

“We extend our appreciation to our dedicated shipbuilders whose efforts have brought the ship one step closer to joining the Navy fleet,” Bath Iron Works said in a social media post Thursday.

DDG 130 is the fifth Flight III variant of the Arleigh Burke class and the second Flight III destroyer built at Bath Iron Works. It is also the 43rd Arleigh Burke-class destroyer the shipyard has produced since the program began construction there in 1988. The Navy awarded the contract for the ship in September 2018, and Bath Iron Works started fabrication in November 2020. The keel was laid Aug. 29, 2024.

The ship is named for Master Chief Hospital Corpsman William R. Charette, a Navy corpsman who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during a Marine Corps engagement at Outpost Vegas in Korea on March 27, 1953. It carries the motto “Valor in Service.”

Flight III destroyers keep the external profile of earlier Arleigh Burke-class ships but carry a different combat system. The central change is the AN/SPY-6(V)1 radar, an active electronically scanned array that replaces the AN/SPY-1D(V) radar used on earlier variants. It pairs with the Aegis Baseline 10 combat system and 96 Mk 41 vertical launch cells. DDG 130 displaces about 9,850 metric tons (9,700 long tons) and carries three 4-megawatt generators that give the class roughly a third more electrical power than earlier Flight IIA ships, power needed to run the new radar and its cooling systems.

USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), the first Flight III destroyer, is already in service. USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128) is expected to join the fleet later this year. As of July 2026, the Navy counted 75 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers delivered, with 24 more planned, under contract or in various stages of construction.

Bath Iron Works currently has several other Flight III destroyers under construction, including Louis H. Wilson Jr. (DDG 126), Quentin Walsh (DDG 132), John E. Kilmer (DDG 134), Richard G. Lugar (DDG 136), J. William Middendorf (DDG 138) and Thomas G. Kelley (DDG 140). The shipyard is a business unit of General Dynamics and one of Maine’s largest employers, with about 6,700 workers as of the fourth quarter of 2025.