Bath Iron Works starts work on future USS Thomas G. Kelley destroyer

The start of fabrication on the future USS Thomas G. Kelley moved the ship from ceremony to shop-floor work, a step that matters in Bath because it drives labor hours at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, feeds suppliers across Maine and shows whether the yard can steady its destroyer line. The DDG 140 is the 48th destroyer built at BIW and the seventh Flight III ship in the class.

At the Structural Fabrication Facility in Bath, the yard marked the transition with Navy Capt. Thomas G. Kelley, a Medal of Honor recipient whose name now sits on one of the Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. Kelley was joined by BIW President Charles F. Krugh, who said it was "a privilege to build a ship carrying the name of an American hero" and said shipbuilders would build it to a level of quality that honors Kelley and the sailors who will serve on it. Kelley said he was "grateful and humbled" that Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro chose him as the ship’s namesake, and said having the destroyer built in his backyard made it especially meaningful.

For Sagadahoc County, the deeper significance is not ceremonial. Flight III destroyers bring the AN/SPY-6 (V)1 Air and Missile Defense Radar, along with upgrades to electrical power and cooling that the Navy says expand warfighting capability. The DDG-51 class is designed for multi-mission offensive and defensive operations, including anti-air, anti-surface, anti-submarine and ballistic missile defense missions, and it can operate alone or with Carrier Strike Groups, Surface Action Groups and Expeditionary Strike Groups. The class was commissioned on July 4, 1991 and remains in production, which makes every new hull a signal that Bath still has a place in the Navy’s future fleet.

Kelley’s own record gives the ship additional weight. On June 15, 1969, in Kien Hoa Province, Republic of Vietnam, he commanded River Assault Division 152, maneuvered boats under enemy fire to protect a disabled craft, kept giving orders after being badly wounded and inspired his crew until he was evacuated by helicopter. BIW had already linked his signature to the ship in an Aug. 30, 2024 keel plate signing, when senior welder Marc Cote, assisted by Mark Cote, welded it into the plate.

The broader production picture is what readers should watch now. By July 31, 2025, BIW said it had several other destroyers under construction, including DDG 124, 126, 127, 130, 132, 134 and 136, and said the Navy had exercised an option for an additional DDG-51 destroyer added through the Fiscal Year 2025 Defense Appropriations Bill. That crowded lineup will determine whether DDG 140 becomes a one-off milestone or another sign that Bath Iron Works is clawing back schedule, keeping skilled work in Sagadahoc County and delivering more Bath-built ships to the Navy on time.