BATH, Maine - USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) is back at her birthplace to receive a $25 million equipment upgrade after her maiden deployment.
Churchill, named after the late British prime minister, orator, author, painter, and war hero, returned to Bath Iron Works in May for the tune-up, known as the Post Shakedown Availability (PSA).
The work comes after a first deployment to the United Kingdom and Norway that drew international attention because of her mission and namesake.
At her berth along the Kennebec River, officers and crew make their way up and down a forward brow and over to offices on a barge off the starboard side as Bath Iron Works (BIW) shipbuilders come and go from the ship. Tarps cover the helo deck, and wires, cranes, and tubes run from the dock to dozens of places as machines whir and buzz.
Everyone on the yard scrambles about as Churchill sits patiently for her transformation to one of the most up-to-date warships in the US Navy's arsenal. When complete, Churchill will boast dozens of advanced systems, corrosion-control improvements, a rearranged Combat Information Center (CIC), an upgraded Passive Countermeasure System, the Naval Fires Control System (NFCS), and numerous improvements to the ship's command and control, communications and computers (C4I) systems, according to Lt. j.g. Michael Schine, Churchill's Electronics Material Officer (EMO).
The destroyer's engineering department also will receive the new Fully Automated Digital Control/Redundant Independent Mechanical Starting System (FADC/RIMSS) to offer a more efficient way of starting the generators.
In addition, there will be new decking, a self-service laundry, modifications to the Hazardous Materials Center, and other improvements to make Churchill ready for the fleet and more efficient and comfortable for her crew.
Launched in April 1999 at BIW, Churchill was commissioned in Norfolk, Va., her homeport, a year later.
Following the PSA, Churchill will make a series of port calls and conduct test and training to prepare for her next deployment with the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) battle group
-ends- USS Winston S. Churchill Gets Major Makeover
