prior ro planned delivery !are in 2014. Because of rhe complexiry of rhe fi rsr-ofclass ship, rhe navy will perfor m a rwophase del ive ry process . A frer BIW delivers rhe ship irself ro rhe navy, rhe navy wi II rhen co nd uce com bar sys rems ac riva rion, res rs and rrials, wh ich will in clude mulriple underway periods. The ship is expecred to reach irs iniria l operarin g capabi liry in 201 6. The ship, rhe firsr of rhree Z umwalr-class desrroyers, will prov ide "independent forwa rd presence and dererrence, support special operarions forces and operare as part of joi nt and comb ined exped itionary fo rces." 1he US Navy has incorporated many new rechnologies into rhe ship's u nique tumb lehome hull, including an all-elecrri c inreg rared power sysrem and an Adva nced G un Sys rem , designed to fire rocke r-powered , prec1s1on projecriles . Th e shape of the superstructu re and the arrangement of irs antenn as sign ifi ca ntly reduce the ship's radar cross section, making the sh ip less visible to enemy radar at sea. The design also allows for optimal manning wirh a stand ard crew size of 130 and an aviarion detachment of rwe nty-eighr sailors, rhereby decreasing lifecycl e operation s and support costs. The lead ship and class are named in hono r of former C hief of Naval Operari ons Adm. Elmo R . "Bud " Z umwalr Jr. , who served as chief of nava l operations
WILLIA MS
iJ MYSTIC
52
from 1970- 1974. Shortly after the sh ip 's launch , the navy also a nnounced that the prosp ective comma nding offi cer of the new h igh-tech warship is none other than Capta in J a mes A . K i rk. N ot James T. Kirk of Star Trek
fa me, m ind you , bur like the fi ctional TV and movie charac ter, the U S N avy's Captain Kirk will be in com mand of the futurisric ship rhar looks like ir comes stra ight out of science fi cti on. Caprain Kirk is a narive of Bethesd a, Maryland, and is a graduate of rhe US Naval Academy. H e has served afloat on des troyers, cruisers, fri gares, and staffs including USS Fife (DD 99 1), USS The Su llivans (DD G 68), USS H ue City (CG 66), USS
john S. M cCain (DD G 56), and as a Gas Turbine Inspector on the staff of C ommander, Paci fi e Fleet. His most rece nt sea d uty includes command of U SS D e Wert (FFG 45) and Operarions Offi cer for C arri er Strike Group Seven, Rona ld Reagan Strike G roup. Ashore, Kirk has served as Execu ti ve Assisrant to rhe US N avy's C hief of Legislative Affairs and as an Acrion Offi cer on the Joint Staff. H e has attended bo rh rhe US Nava l W ar C ollege and US A rmy War C oll ege, graduating w irh mas rers degrees in N arional Securiry Studies . .. . In late October, the North Carolina Underwater Archaeology Unit r ecovered five more cannons from the Queen Anne's R evenge shipw reck site, just off the ch an nel h eading in to Beaufort, North Carolina . The Queen Anne's Revenge (QA R), part of Blackbeard 's litt le fl oti lla, ran ag round whi le ir was m aking its way along rhe coasr of N orth Ca rolina berween Cap e Fear and Cape Lookout in 1718. Some claimed th at Blackbea rd intent ionally ran the QAR and another vessel aground to break up hi s band of
THE EXPERIENCE OF NO EXPERIENC
some 300 p irates and ru n off w irh the mosr valuable part of the booty wir h a h andpicked crew. The sh ips w recked in a shoal area of rhe coas r where sto rms and wave acr ion ca n cover and uncover item s on rhe sea floor on a regular bas is. In 1996, a priva re treas ure-hu nri ng fi rm, Intersal, Inc., was surveying the area, operaring under a permit fro m rh e N C D epr. of C u ltural Resources when they di scovered a collecrion of cannons and anchors in rhe seaflo or, jusr off Beauforr. The rea m recovered several ocher d iagnosri c arrifa c ts, including a bronze bell and a blu nde rb uss barrel, whi ch helped
SEA HISTORY 145 , WINTER 20 13- 14