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The ships these Sailors serve aboard are nearly as amazing as the Sailors themselves. Our cruisers, destroyers, and frigates are all driven by General Electric LM 2500 series gas turbines, from the same family of jet engines that power 747 and 767 aircraft. Fast and maneuverable, all three ship classes can cut through the waves with the speed of a ski boat. Although they displace thousands of tons, these vessels can turn, stop, or reverse course almost on a dime.
The Ticonderoga class are quite simply the most lethal and combat-capable guided missile cruisers in the history of naval warfare. They were the first warships to be built around the famed Aegis combat system: an integrated suite of high-tech weaponry, sensors, and computer control systems that make the entire ship a weapon.
The Oliver Hazard Perry class guided missile frigates were designed as submarine hunters. The smallest and most lightly-armed of the surface combatants, they've often been the subject of jokes or snide comments about disposable ships. But these tough little vessels have earned their battle scars the hard way. My grandfather would have called them scrappers, because they've proven time and again that they can take a punch and still come out fighting.
The Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers are the newest and most advanced surface combatants in the U.S. Navy. They're the next generation of Aegis technology, combining the cumulative lessons of 230 years of naval architecture to create a singularly-lethal hybrid combat vessel that lives up to the old tin can Sailor's credo: Go anywhere; do anything; battle any foe.
Between them, these sleek gray warriors are the workhorses of the fleet, and the backbone of the surface Navy. Each class has its own area of specialty, but all of them are multi-mission capable. Any one of them can shoot down enemy fighter jets, intercept hostile missiles, track and engage threat submarines, or unleash a barrage of naval artillery fire on targets at sea and ashore. Any or all of these ship classes can screen and protect an aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, form part of a multi-ship Surface Action Group, or conduct solo combat operations in hostile waters.
It's rare for a warship to be named after a living person, and even rarer if that ship happens to be the lead vessel in a new class. But in 1991, retired Admiral Arleigh Burke was present at the commissioning of USS Arleigh Burke: the lead ship in the Navy's newest class of destroyers. Never one for pleasantries, Admiral Burke skipped right over the traditional flowery rhetoric and issued a personal challenge to the assembled Sailors who would crew his ship. "This ship is built to fight," he growled. "You had better know how."
As usual, the old sea dog spoke with wisdom. These ships are built to fight, and the thousands of men and women who serve aboard them do know how. Even when nobody is looking.
