On Wednesday, April 22, 2026, industry outlet USNI News was the first to report that a fire had broken out aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS Zumwalt (DDG-1000), which is currently at the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII, part of Northrop Grumman) shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. Three sailors were injured, and their condition is stable.
Photo: HII Ingalls Shipbuilding
According to U.S. Naval Surface Forces, the fire was reported on Sunday, April 19, at 9:45 p.m. Pacific Time, while the ship was moored pier-side at the shipyard. The crew responded immediately and extinguished the fire. Three sailors received medical treatment for injuries sustained in the incident, and their condition is stable. One of them was transported to a local hospital, while the other two were treated at the scene. The U.S. Navy is investigating the cause of the fire and assessing the extent of the damage aboard the ship.
The ship arrived at the shipyard on August 19, 2023, for an overhaul lasting up to two years, combined with a modernization that includes the integration of the CPS (Conventional Prompt Strike) hypersonic missile weapon system. The ship entered dry dock, where the main work began, receiving APM (Advanced Payload Module) missile launcher blocks in place of two 155 mm/L62 AGS (Advanced Gun System) automatic gun modules. On December 6, 2024, it was reported that the ship had left dry dock and had since been undergoing further preparations to achieve operational readiness. Then, on January 15 this year, it went to sea for its first trials and returned to the shipyard the following day.
The third ship of the class, USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002), is also at HII Ingalls, where it is undergoing modernization to adapt it to the CPS weapon system. The second ship, USS Michael Monsoor (DDG-1001), is currently in San Diego, California, and is scheduled to undergo integration at a later stage.