Sharon Lombardo, a long-time volunteer and Director of Maine Lobster Festival has been in charge of coordinating the arrival of Navy ships for the past 20 years and is excited to announce this year’s invited guest to Rockland: The USS Delbert D. Black (DDG-119).

The USS Delbert D. Black is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer of the United States Navy, which was launched in 2017. It weighs approximately 9,200 long tons, is 510 feet long, and houses 280 officers and enlisted. According to its history on Wikipedia, “The ship was damaged at the shipyard [in 2019] when a heavy-lift ship collided with a barge that was alongside the Delbert D. Black. The barge in turn struck the destroyer, resulting in several workers sustaining minor injuries and causing significant damage to the destroyer.”

But the ship was finally repaired a year later and in September 2022, Delbert D. Black seized 7,200 kilograms of hashish in the Gulf of Oman.

This ship will be docked nearly the entire week of The Maine Lobster Festival July 31 to Aug. 4 and will be open to the publictours. Tours are approximately 30-40 minutes, plus an additional 45-50 minutes of travel to and from the ship. Tour dates and times will be announced closer to the Festival, and will be posted in the official online schedule. It’s an amazing opportunity for families to see a real working Navy destroyer and a great rainy-day activity as well.
Lombardo said Navy ships have been coming to the Festival every year as far back as the 1950s. For a Festival that honors people who make their living on the ocean, hosting a Navy ship is the perfect fit.

“We have tours the whole time they’re in port,” Lombardo said. Ships in the past few years have included The U.S.S Gunston Hall (LSD 44). Lombardo’s favorite story involves a man whose daughter wrote to her about 15 years ago to tell her that her father helped build one of the ships that came to the Maine Lobster Festival at the Bath shipyard many years ago. Not only that, but her father also served on that ship. When the ship came to the Festival that year, the man, who was in a wheelchair by then, requested a chance to see the ship in person. His daughter asked if he could sit on the back of the ship because he wouldn’t be able to tour it.

“I got in touch with the C.O. and he told me, ‘You get him out here — we’ll take it from there,’” she said. “They carried him all over that whole ship in his chair up to the bridge. It was such a highlight of his life. I got cards from that family for years after that.”

USS Delbert D. Black will be moored off the Rockland Breakwater with a separate ramp to the pier off the Harbormaster’s office for the general public to use.

Stay tuned to our Facebook page for announcements on the times when the tours will take place. Minors must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. No pets or backpacks are allowed. And it’s necessary to wear closed-sole shoes throughout the tour (no backless shoes or flip-flops.)

Come see this Navy ship and other amazing local attractions this summer during the Maine Lobster Festival July 31-Aug. 4, 2024, offering free admission once again! Visit our website for more details:  https://mainelobsterfestival.com/