Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer is scheduled to attend a keel laying ceremony for a Navy destroyer under construction at Bath Iron Works.

U.S. Navy Secretary Richard Spencer

Spencer will be joined at the Kennebec River shipyard Friday morning by all four members of Maine’s congressional delegation, according to a news release.

Spencer will address BIW shipbuilders before he tours the USS Carl M. Levin, said the release issued Thursday night by Maine’s delegation.

The Arleigh Burke guided missile Flight IIA destroyer is named in honor of former Sen. Carl M. Levin, a longtime chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Levin and his family plan to attend the ceremony.

According to the U.S. Navy, the USS Carl M. Levin will be 513 feet long and 66 feet wide. Her crew size will be just over 300 sailors. It is scheduled to be commissioned in 2020.

Sen Angus King, an independent, serves on the Senate’s Armed Services Committee and Republican Sen. Susan Collins is a former committee member. Collins currently serves on the Defense Appropriation subcommittee.

Newly elected Democrat Jaren Golden was just appointed to the House Armed Services Committee and his colleague in the House, Democrat Chellie Pingree, is a former member of the House Armed Services Committee.

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