The first ship in a new class of destroyer was tied up at a former Navy base in the Panama Canal Tuesday after suffering a propulsion system breakdown while on the way to San Diego, its home port.
The USS Zumwalt was passing through the canal when it lost propulsion in its port shaft and the crew saw water enter an area where the motors drive the shafts, which locked up, the U.S. Naval Institute News reported.
The publication cited a Navy official who said repairs to the $4.4 billion ship could take 10 days. The 610-foot-long vessel also suffered some cosmetic damage when it tapped the wall of a lock.
USNI reported that the latest problem was similar to one that occurred in September. The ship was hit by another, unspecified mechanical issue last month.
The Zumwalt, commissioned in October in Baltimore, has an angular appearance vastly different from current destroyers of the Arleigh Burke class, in order to lower its radar signature. It's named after Adm. Elmo Zumwalt, who is credited with building the modern Navy.
Two other Zumwalt class destroyers are under construction.
