Warships

Battle of Jutland

31 May - 1 June 1916

If you've been following the blog for a while, you might have noticed that I tend to be a bit "aircraft centric." (No, really...)

From time to time you'll see an armored fighting vehicle trundle across the screen but I'm mostly about aircraft. Military aircraft. Though there was a post a while back with pictures of non-aircraft carrier type ships, that's been rare. Normally it's things that fly that I'm all about.

Today I break from that tradition. For I do love things that tend to be painted gray nowadays and steam in harm's way. (Whether the shade be battleship-gray or haze-gray, it's all the same to me.) In other words, I also have a thing for warships. And not just the gray ones.

I must confess, whenever I head down to Norfolk, or out to Sandy Eggo, I have the urge, no, the compulsion to head down to the Naval Station and see the warships. I get as excited as a little kid spotting a toy store or an ice cream truck in these instances.

For instance, last month out in Sandy Eggo as The WSO and I were traversing the Coronado Bridge (leaving Coronado), I spotted haze gray warships off to the right...

"Whoa, stop the car WSO, I need to get a picture. WARSHIPS!"

"Dad. I am not stopping the car on the Coronado Bridge."

"But I can see at least two Arleigh-Burke class destroyers and - wow - I think that's a cruiser..."

"Dad. I. Am. Not. Stopping."

"<sigh> Alright."

Warships, I like them.

Now some of you may be wondering what I mean by a warship. (I also have a few readers who may be wondering, "What's a warship?") So let me enlighten you. A warship is capable of meting out death and destruction to the enemy and surviving to bring it's crew home again. The photos which follow are what this Old AF Sarge thinks of when someone says "warship."

USS Constitution
An old warship.

HMS Victory
Another old warship.

USS Wisconsin
A retired warship of WWII through Desert Storm vintage.

USS Nimitz
Nuclear powered aircraft carrier, no guns but definitely a warship.

USS Cowpens
An Aegis* cruiser.

USS Donald Cook (foreground) and other warships meting out death and destruction.
(USS Donald Cook, DDG-75, is an Aegis equipped Arleigh-Burke class destroyer.
As are the two other ships in the near distance. In the background - on the left - is what
appears to be an Aegis cruiser.)

USS Virginia
Not haze gray but a very potent warship.

USS Nitze
Arleigh-Burke class destroyer

USS Curts
Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate
(About as small as I would go and still call it a warship.)

USS New York
San Antonio class Landing Platform Dock (LPD)
(Some would not consider her a warship. I'm sure the 360-man crew
and her 700 embarked Marines would beg to differ.
700 Marines can mete out a lot of death and destruction!)

Expect to see more in the warship department here in the future. Not to mention famous naval battles. I have neglected this area of warfare long enough!

John Paul Jones
Father of the US Navy
"I wish to have no connection with any ship
that does not sail fast; for I intend to go in harm's way."

Bonnehomme Richard and her consorts.
Captain John Paul Jones commanding.

* The Aegis Combat System is an integrated naval weapons system developed by the Missile and Surface Radar Division of RCA, and now produced by Lockheed Martin. It uses powerful computer and radar technology to track and guide weapons to destroy enemy targets. The name comes from Greek mythology: The Aegis (Ancient Greek: Αἰγίς), as stated in the Iliad, is carried by Athena and Zeus, but its nature is uncertain. It had been interpreted as an animal-skin or a shield, sometimes bearing the head of a Gorgon.