Star Trek actor George Takei posted to his Facebook fan page on Thursday to announce that the commander of the U.S. Navy’s new guided-missile destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, is being commanded by none other than Captain Kirk.
On his Facebook page Takei posted a link to the story with the caption: “The name of the captain of this new Zumwalt-class destroyer (the latest guided missile vessel to be deployed by the U.S. Navy) is…wait for it…James Kirk. Truly epic..”
The USS Zumwalt launched last week in Maine and not only does it feature a space-age look, the 610-foot vessel has the best captain’s name of all-time.
James Kirk was commissioned at the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990 and has served in various posts as a “surface warfare officer.” His official bio says “Ashore, Captain Kirk has served as Executive Assistant to the Navy’s Chief of Legislative Affairs and as an Action Officer on the Joint Staff.”
Sorry but his official bio makes no mention of his time serving as the Captain of the USS Enterprise. However, he is still very qualified for his new role, obtaining several masters degrees at the U.S. Naval War College and U.S. Army War College.
James Kirk will command a warship that features various new technologies including “ radar reflecting angles and a striking inward-sloping tumblehome hull.” The warship also features an advanced gun system.
The Navy is still working on the Zumwalt which is “more than 87 percent complete.” Before the ship is battle ready the Navy will complete some hull work and then delivery the USS Zulwalt in late 2014.
Unfortunately there isn’t a commanding officer named “Spock” so the executive officer for the ship will instead be Cmdr. Jeffrey W. Hickox.
Just to sum up the humor of the situation once more, a guy named James Kirk is captain of a “USS” class ship.
