Bath Iron Works has been awarded a contract to build a new U.S. Navy destroyer.
Senator Susan Collins announced the project Thursday evening to build the guided missile destroyer in Maine.
Collins says funding for the ship is coming from the 2024 and 2025 appropriations spending packages. Collins chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee.
She said the award underscores BIW’s role as an essential shipyard for the Navy.
“This award is a testament to the highly skilled and hard-working men and women of BIW and once again shows that ‘Bath Built is Best Built’” said Collins in a statement Thursday evening. “This destroyer will enhance our national security, protect good-paying Maine jobs, and provide long-term stability for the highly skilled men and women at BIW.
The DDG-148, will be named after Kyle Carpenter, who is the youngest living Medal of Honor recipient.
He received the Medal of Honor in 2014 after shielding a fellow Marine from a grenade blast in Afghanistan in 2010. He lost his right eye and suffering other life-threatening injuries. Carpenter later earned his college degree, wrote a memoir titled You Are Worth It, and has become a motivational speaker.
