Story highlights The USS Zumwalt, the Navy's most advanced and expensive destroyer, is now awaiting repairs in Panama

The over 4$B ship was commissioned last month

Washington (CNN) Just weeks after its debut, the Navy's most technologically advanced destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, has been put out of action due to engineering problems that occurred while it was crossing the Panama Canal.

"The timeline for repairs is being determined now," US Navy Cmdr. Ryan Perry said in a statement to CNN.

Perry noted that the commander of the US Third Fleet, Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, directed the ship to remain at ex-Naval Station Rodman in Panama to determine what caused the malfunction.

Photos: USS Zumwalt begins sea trials Photos: USS Zumwalt begins sea trials The USS Zumwalt, the Navy's biggest and most expensive destroyer ever built, heads out into the Atlantic Ocean on Monday, December 7. The ship is out at sea for the first time to undergo sea trials. Hide Caption 1 of 7 Photos: USS Zumwalt begins sea trials The USS Zumwalt leaves the Kennebec River in Phippsburg, Maine, on December 7. The ship and its class are named in honor of Adm. Elmo R. "Bud" Zumwalt Jr., who served as chief of naval operations from 1970 to 1974. Hide Caption 2 of 7 Photos: USS Zumwalt begins sea trials Deputy Defense Secretary Bob Work speaks with the Zumwalt crew during a visit to Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, on May 12. Work toured the ship and observed its progress. One thing that sets the $3 billion ship apart is its very small crew. Compared with about 300 sailors needed for similar warships, the Zumwalt's minimum compliment is only 130. The smaller crew is made possible by advanced automated systems which "make it much easier and much more effective for the sailor to operate," says former Navy Capt. Wade Knudson, who now serves as Zumwalt program director for Pentagon contractor, Raytheon. Hide Caption 3 of 7 Photos: USS Zumwalt begins sea trials Mouzetta Zumwalt-Weathers christens the Zumwalt during a ceremony at Bath Iron Works on April 12, 2014. Hide Caption 4 of 7 Photos: USS Zumwalt begins sea trials The ship is floated out of dry dock at the Bath Iron Works shipyard on October 28, 2013. Hide Caption 5 of 7 Photos: USS Zumwalt begins sea trials The 1,000-ton deckhouse is craned toward the deck of the ship to be integrated with the its hull at Bath Iron Works on December 14, 2012. Hide Caption 6 of 7 Photos: USS Zumwalt begins sea trials Retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. James G. Zumwalt, left, assists welder Carl Pepin as he inscribes a steel plate at a keel laying ceremony at Bath Iron Works on Thursday, November 17, 2011. Hide Caption 7 of 7

The issue occurred Monday while the Zumwalt was on its way to its new homeport of San Diego where it was to join the US Third Fleet, which is responsible for the Pacific Ocean.

USS Zumwalt Displacement: 15,995 metric tons Length: 610 feet Beam: 80.7 feet Draft: 27.6 feet Sustained speed: 30 knots Crew: 147 plus 28-person aviation detachment Armaments: 80 Advanced Vertical Launch System cells, 2 155 millimeter Advanced Gun System (AGS), 2 30 millimeter Close In Guns Source: US Navy

The ship is thought to be the most advanced destroyer ever built.

Read More</s>While crossing the Panama Canal the USS Zumwalt has stalled due to engineering problems, according to CNN. The USS Zumwalt is the Navy's most expensive destroyer ever at more than $4 billion.

The Navy’s largest and most expensive (4.4 billion!) destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, has malfunctioned while crossing Panama Canal and is out of commission for the time being, according to a report from CNN.

The USS Zumwalt, deployed from its home in Maine on Sept. 11 and set sail with the smallest crew in history since the 1930s, according to the Telegraph.

The 610-foot, 15,000-ton warship resembles the Starship from the television series “Star Trek” - with a captain’s bridge covered by 360 degrees of video monitors, weapons and flood control systems.

A few weeks after the U.S.S. Zumwalt made its debut, the Navy’s most advanced destroyer, was taken out of action due to engineering problems that occurred while crossing the Panama Canal.

“The timeline for repairs is being determined now.” US Navy Cmdr Ryan Perry said in a statement to CNN. He said the commander of the US Third Fleet, Vice Adm Nora Tyson, directed the ship to stay at Naval Station Rodman in Panama to see what’s caused the problems.

The issue first happened on Dec. 21. when the U.S.S. Zumwalt was on its way to San Diego where it was supposed to join the US Third Fleet, which is responsible for the Pacific Ocean.

“If Batman had a ship, it would be the USS Zumwalt,” Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., commander of US Pacific Command, said in October at the ship's commissioning.

The Zumwalt is equipped with weaponry hidden behind flat surfaces, and is designed to make it more difficult to spot on radar than conventional destroyers.

The U.S.S. Zumwalt is named in honor of Adm. Elmo R. Zumwalt Jr., who served as chief of the United States naval operations from 1970-1974, and the original fleet was to include 32 ships, but currently only has three. The final price tag of the ship was $4.4 billion.</s>USS Zumwalt passes under the Gov. William Preston Lane Memorial Bridge, also known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, as the ship travels to its new home port of San Diego, Calif. Oct. 17, 2016. The Navy announced Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, that the ship suffered an engineering problem and had to be towed to a berth in Panama.

WASHINGTON — The Navy’s newest and most technologically advanced guided missile destroyer had to be towed from the Panama Canal after experiencing “engineering issues,” a spokesman for the service said Tuesday in a statement.

The USS Zumwalt, which cost $4.4 billion, will remain at Naval Station Rodman, a former U.S. base in Panama, to repair problems that surfaced this week while the ship cruised to its new homeport in San Diego, said Cmdr. Ryan Perry, a spokesman for the Navy’s Third Fleet. He said it was unclear how long the ship would remain in Panama.

“The schedule for the ship will remain flexible to enable testing and evaluation in order to ensure the ship’s safe transit to her new homeport,” Perry said in a statement.

USNI News, a publication of the U.S. Naval Institute, reported the ship was in the canal when it lost propulsion. Crew members also saw water intrusion in bearings that connect electrical motors to drive shafts, it reported.

The 610-foot-long Zumwalt was billed as the most capable surface combat ship in the world when it was commissioned last month in Baltimore. But the most recent issues were not the first it has faced since it left shipbuilder General Dynamics Bath Iron Works in Maine in September.

The Zumwalt suffered a similar seawater leak in September and another unspecified engineering problem in October, according to USNI News.

The Zumwalt, which features an angular design aimed at tricking enemy radar systems, is the first of three identical destroyers scheduled to be commissioned in its class. The second is expected to cost about $4.4 billion and the third is expected to cost about $3.7 billion.

When it arrives in San Diego, the Zumwalt will begin having its combat systems installed before it is tested and evaluated. The process is expected to last through most of 2017, and the ship will not likely join the Navy’s operational fleet until 2018.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.</s>PORTLAND, Maine — The most expensive destroyer ever built for the Navy suffered an engineering problem in the Panama Canal and had to be towed to port. U.S. Third Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Ryan Perry said a vice admiral directed the USS Zumwalt to remain at ex-Naval Station Rodman in Panama to address the issues, which arose ...</s>Just weeks after its debut, the Navy's most technologically advanced destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, has been put out of action due to engineering problems that occurred while it was crossing the Panama Canal.

"The timeline for repairs is being determined now," US Navy Cmdr. Ryan Perry said in a statement to CNN.

Perry noted that the commander of the US Third Fleet, Vice Adm. Nora Tyson, directed the ship to remain at ex-Naval Station Rodman in Panama to determine what caused the malfunction.

The issue occurred Monday while the Zumwalt was on its way to its new homeport of San Diego where it was to join the US Third Fleet, which is responsible for the Pacific Ocean.

The ship is thought to be the most advanced destroyer ever built.

Upon its October commissioning in Baltimore, Adm. Harry B. Harris, Jr., commander of US Pacific Command, said, "If Batman had a ship, it would be the USS Zumwalt." The Zumwalt, equipped with sharp angles and weaponry concealed behind flat surfaces, is designed to be more difficult to spot on radar than conventional destroyers. "We can't get this technological marvel to the Pacific fast enough," Harris said last month, adding, "The technology in Zumwalt's unique hull and the ingenuity of her stalwart crew are powerful guarantors of peace." But the ship's high cost is likely to bring additional scrutiny to the recent malfunction. The Zumwalt is said to have cost $4.4 billion to build. The Navy initially planned to order over 20 of the new destroyers but cost overruns and delays caused the number of ships ordered to be reduced to just three vessels. According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, the total program cost, consisting of three ships, will be over $22 billion.</s>The most expensive destroyer ever built for the US navy has suffered an engineering problem in the Panama Canal and had to be towed to port. 



US Third Fleet spokesman commander Ryan Perry said a vice-admiral directed the USS Zumwalt to remain at ex-Naval Station Rodman in Panama to address the issues, which arose on Monday.

The ship was built at Bath Iron Works in Maine and was on its way to San Diego.

“The schedule for the ship will remain flexible to enable testing and evaluation in order to ensure the ship’s safe transit to her new home port in San Diego,” Perry said in a statement.

USNI News, a publication of the US Naval Institute, reported on its website that the ship was in the canal when it lost propulsion.

Crew also saw water getting into bearings that connect electrical motors to driveshafts, the website reported.

USNI News reported that the Zumwalt suffered minor cosmetic damage. The ship had been scheduled to arrive in San Diego by the end of the year to start the activation of its weapon system, the website reported.

The 610ft warship has an angular shape to minimise its radar signature and is regarded as the most technologically sophisticated destroyers ever built for the navy. One of its signature features is a new gun system that fires rocket-powered shells up to 63 nautical miles.

The Zumwalt cost more than $4.4bn and was commissioned in October in Maryland. It also suffered a leak in its propulsion system before it was commissioned. The leak required the ship to remain at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia longer than expected for repairs.

The ship is part of the first new class of warship built at Bath Iron Works in more than 25 years.

The second Zumwalt-class destroyer, which also cost more than $4.4bn, was christened in a June ceremony during which US Rep Bruce Poliquin called it an “extraordinary machine of peace and security”. The third ship is expected to cost a bit less than $3.7bn.

A spokeswoman for Bath Iron Works said the shipyard was not planning to comment on the breakdown and referred questions to the navy.</s>Washington (AFP) - America's newest warship, the super high-tech USS Zumwalt, broke down in the Panama Canal just a few weeks after the vessel was commissioned, the Navy and reports said Tuesday.

The guided missile destroyer, whose stealth capabilities give it a strikingly angular shape, needed to be towed Monday to a nearby former US naval station after suffering an "engineering casualty," the US Naval Institute's news site reported.

The Zumwalt was en route from Baltimore, where she was commissioned October 15, to San Diego.

Navy spokesman Commander Ryan Perry said in a statement that "the timeline for repairs is being determined now."

"The schedule for the ship will remain flexible to enable testing and evaluation in order to ensure the ship's safe transit to her new homeport in San Diego," Perry said.

An unnamed defense official told USNI News that repairs to the Zumwalt could take up to 10 days.

The $4.3 billion Zumwalt is the first in a new line of revolutionary guided missile destroyers.

The ship is 600 feet (roughly 180 meters) long and weighs nearly 15,000 tons, making it the largest destroyer in the US fleet.

But thanks to its angled hull and deck house, it is designed to look no bigger than a fishing boat on radar.

Its motors are electric powered, driven by an innovative integrated power system that may one day also support an array of energy-intensive weapons like lasers and electromagnetic rail guns.</s>BATH, Maine — The Bath-built USS Zumwalt, the first-in-class “stealth” destroyer that left the Bath shipyard on Sept. 7, broke down Monday night while passing through the Panama Canal and was towed by tugs through the locks toward the Pacific Ocean.

The DDG 1000, the first of a class of three destroyers that cost an estimated $22 billion combined, “suffered an engineering casualty,” the Navy Times reported. The Zumwalt was towed through the locks to Rodman, a former U.S. military base.

The ship lost propulsion in its port shaft and salt water leaked into the Zumwalt’s two electrical motors that are driven by its gas turbines and in turn electrically power the ship’s systems, a defense official told USNI News on Tuesday.

The ship sustained minor cosmetic damage when it made contact with the lock walls, according to USNI News.

In September, the Zumwalt stayed in Norfolk, Virginia for two extra weeks while a seawater leak in the propulsion motor drive oil auxiliary system for one of the ship’s shafts was repaired, Navaltoday.com reported.

Further leaks and engineering issues were encountered in Florida in October.</s>The costliest, most hi-tech destroyer in the history of the US Navy has broken down on its very first voyage to its homeport.

The 610-foot, 15,000-tonne USS Zumwalt cost almost $4.5bn to build and has an angular, unconventional shape to make it difficult to detect with radar. It is capable of operating with a crew half as big as a conventional destroyer, and carries a pair of guns that can supposedly hit targets with precision at a distance of 80 miles, using rounds that cost at least $800,000 each.

The so-called "stealth destroyer" is so futuristic, it even has a captain called James Kirk.

But on Monday night, as the Zumwalt passed through the Panama Canal, it suffered an engineering malfunction and had to be towed to port. Built in Bath, Maine and commissioned last month in Baltimore, Maryland, the warship was on its way to San Diego, its homeport. According to Defense News, the vessel was towed to the Pacific end of the canal and is now at the former US Naval Station Rodman in Panama, undergoing repairs.

This wasn’t the first time the Zumwalt had broken down. Several months ago, on its way to perform its first at-sea tests, the ship sprang a leak in its auxiliary motor drive oil system, Popular Mechanics reported. That problem took around a fortnight to fix.</s>USS Zumwalt passes under the Gov. William Preston Lane Memorial Bridge, also known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, as the ship travels to its new home port of San Diego, Calif. Oct. 17, 2016. The Navy announced Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, that the ship suffered an engineering problem and had to be towed to a berth in Panama.

The most expensive destroyer ever built for the Navy suffered an engineering problem in the Panama Canal and had to be towed to a berth in Panama.

U.S. Third Fleet spokesman Cmdr. Ryan Perry says a vice admiral has directed the USS Zumwalt to remain at ex-Naval Station Rodman in Panama to address the issues. The ship was built at Bath Iron Works in Maine.

Perry says the timeline for repairs is still being determined and the schedule for the ship will remain flexible to enable testing and evaluation.

The ship is in the midst of transit to a new homeport in San Diego.

The 610-foot-long warship has an angular shape to minimize its radar signature. It cost more than $4.4 billion.

The ship was commissioned in October in Maryland.
The $4B USS Zumwalt, thought to be the U.S. Navy's most technologically advanced vessel to date, suffers a large engineering malfunction while crossing the Panama Canal. This is the craft's second major malfunction since its launch less than a month prior.