Bath Iron Works delivers USS Patrick Gallagher ahead of schedule

Bath Iron Works handed the Navy future USS Patrick Gallagher more than two months ahead of schedule, a timely win for a yard whose performance is watched closely in Bath, across Sagadahoc County and in Washington. The early delivery of DDG 127, the final Flight IIA Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, marked a high-profile manufacturing milestone for one of Maine’s most important industrial employers.

The Navy accepted delivery of the ship on May 28, 2026, after what officials described as exceptional builder’s sea trials. Those trials ran hull, mechanical, electrical and combat systems tests at sea in series during a single accelerated effort, a pace that Navy and shipyard leaders credited for pulling the schedule forward. For Bath Iron Works, the result carried meaning beyond one destroyer: on-time, or early, delivery strengthens the company’s case with the Navy at a moment when future contracts and production credibility remain critical to the yard’s long-term workload.

Sen. Susan Collins said the accelerated delivery was made possible by exceptional sea trials and the work of Bath Iron Works shipbuilders. That emphasis on labor performance matters in Bath, where BIW is not just a large employer but a central piece of the local economy, supporting supplier networks, household incomes and spending that ripple well beyond the waterfront. The company said more than 2,000 shipbuilders, family members and invited guests attended the 2024 christening, a reminder of how deeply the yard’s work reaches into the community.

The destroyer also carries a name with heavy military history. The Navy named the ship in 2018 for Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Patrick Gallagher, a Vietnam veteran and Navy Cross recipient who immigrated from Ballyhaunis, Ireland, in 1962. Gallagher served with H-Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division during Operation Hastings. He earned the Navy Cross for heroism on July 18, 1966, when he sacrificed himself to shield fellow Marines from a grenade.

Ship records list DDG 127’s award date as Sept. 28, 2017, its keel date as June 16, 2022, its launch date as Dec. 3, 2023, and its delivery date as May 28, 2026. BIW’s ship page lists a launch date of Oct. 16, 2024. The Navy says the destroyer is slated to be homeported in Norfolk, Virginia, but its early handoff now stands as a local economic signal as much as a military one: Bath can still build complex warships quickly, and that matters for the jobs and federal work that keep the yard at the center of the region’s future.