Cranes tower over Bath Iron Works on the Kennebec River waterfront.
In this 2001 photo Bath Iron Works employees manually drive wedges under the cradle of the USS Mason early Saturday morning before the ship launching. The launch was the last time the inclined building ways launched a Navy destroyer at BIW. The old method was been made obsolete by the shipyard's Land Level Transfer Facility.
The U.S. Navy's newest destroyer, Zumwalt, sails down the Kennebec River toward the Atlantic for a series of sea trials after leaving Bath Iron Works in December of 2015.
A new dry dock makes its way past Doubling Point Light on the Kennebec River about a mile from its home at the BIW shipyard in 2001.
Striking BIW workers walk down the Sagadahoc Bridge after turning their backs on Gov. Angus King in protest at the bridge dedication ceremony in August 2000.
The rusting hulk of the BIW drydock in Portland harbor in 2000.
The USS Spruance destroyer under construction at Bath Iron Works in 2011.
Tugboats guide the Zumwalt into Portland Harbor as it arrives unannounced on Dec. 10. Despite its size, the warship is 50 times harder to detect than current destroyers thanks to its angular shape and other design features.
A large group of BIW workers gathered at lunchtime to listen to union leaders discuss their dissatisfaction with the status of contract negotiations in 2000.
Bath Iron Works employees construct a Navy destroyer in 2005.
Bath Iron Works employee Kevin Hook manually drives wedges under the cradle of the USS Mason in 2001.
The USS Zumwalt at BIW in 2015.
James Campbell, 12, sells newspapers during a shift change in 2000.
BIW workers guide a hull section called an 'Ultra Unit' of DDG-1000, of the first Zumwalt-class guided missile destroyers, in late August of 2011.
Welds are inspected in 1997 as a section of a ship is assembled in the gigantic Assembly Building.
Shipyard workers listen to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel who toured the new DDG 100, Zumwalt class guided missile destroyer at BIW in 2013.
Hundreds of BIW workers sit down for a barbecue lunch provided by the company in 2006 as a thank you for workers' efforts in constructing the first mega-unit, the large section of ship in the center of the photo. The mega-unit is a new type of ship construction pioneered by BIW that helps cut costs.
BIW workers build staging for a christening platform for the USS Chafee a DDG-90 warship in 2002.
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