The future USS Daniel Inouye, Navy’s newest Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, left Bath Iron Works Monday to head for its homeport in Hawaii. Photo courtesy of Bath Iron Works

The future USS Daniel Inouye departed Bath Iron Works on Monday en route to its base in the Pacific Ocean.

The Arleigh Burke-class destroyer made its way down the Kennebec River and then into the North Atlantic, officials said.

The warship is named after Daniel Inouye, a former U.S. senator from Hawaii who received the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions in Italy during World War II. Inouye died in 2012.

The ship will eventually make its way to Hawaii where it will be commissioned and stationed at Pearl Harbor.

Construction on the ship began in May 2018 and the ship was christened in June 2019. After undergoing two rounds of sea trials, the second of which wrapped up in February 2021, it was handed over to the Navy in March 2021.

“We are proud to have delivered (the future USS Daniel Inouye) to the Navy last spring and to help prepare it for its important role in our nation’s security,” BIW President Dirk Lesko wrote in a statement Monday. “The sail away marks an important milestone in our mission to deliver these sophisticated ships to the Navy.”

Seven ships remain under construction at the Bath shipyard, all of which are Arleigh Burkes except for the future USS Lyndon B. Johnson, the third and final advanced Zumwalt-class destroyer.

The Associated Press and Times Record reporter Kathleen O’Brien contributed to this report.