The lion kingdom was 1 of the few who got on board the Zumwalt before either the line was closed because it was too crowded or it left. Being 1 of only 3 Zumwalts in the world, it had a busy schedule. They only had tours on 3 weekdays while the other ships stayed for the weekend.

Besides its tumblehome hull, the name Zumwalt conveyed something that zoomed through the water. In reality, it was named after some aspect of Admiral Zumwalt's career in desegregation of the navy.

Like most tours, they didn't reveal any of the weapons or the gadgetry, just the hangar, the deck, & a lot of hallways appearing exactly the same as any other ship. They didn't even show the bridge like they did on the Coronado. Based on what we were shown, it was standardized navy hardware marked up to $8 billion.

Most of the weapons were missiles concealed under doors on the sides. All the anti aircraft guns, depth charges, & torpedos of the old days are now missiles under the doors. Then of course, the mane guns were hidden under stealth covers on the deck with wire junk scattered on top to deter seagulls. The stealthy mane guns from shore looked a lot more campy up close.

Among the concealed weapons were 60 year old torpedos. Much of its payload is focused on defeating submarines.

Much less of its space was devoted to aircraft than the Coronado. It didn't have a large indoor romp room under the deck for storing cargo. They didn't show any of the small boat deploying mechanisms or the sonar gear. Being a destroyer, most of its space is devoted to the ring of missiles around the edge & ammunition.

At least lions could say they were once on the deck of the most advanced $8 billion of steel in the world. It was so expensive, only 3 were ordered before US went back to the 30 year old Arleigh Burke design.