Haze gray and here for three days. DESTROYER!!

So I'm down along the river having breakfast, and I notice something different on the Gov. Nicholls St. wharf skyline.

That wasn't there before.

I ride around the other side of the wharf and lookie, lookie!!

It's USS Lassen (DDG82), an Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer! She's here for the week-end and they're giving tours!

So I get all metal-detected (just like at the airport, only here there are four sailors with guns and plate carriers watching me "No pictures of the checkpoint please!") and head aboard.

This is NOT a World War Two destroyer like USS Kidd. It's much bigger. She's 509ft long, 60ft wide, and displaces 9,600 tons. Comes with a crew of 320.

Still has torpedo tubes though.

And 25mm guns.

But the welcome mat was out for guests today.

They took us aboard in small groups of ten (And I was in the first group) and took us all around her deck to show us stuff and tell us about her.

Port side 25mm gun.

With warnings and safety instructions. (See, it's not just Ruger and S&W doing this.)

A plaque commemorating her namesake, Lt. Clyde E. Lassen, a Vietnam War rescue helicopter pilot.

Let's read that up close.

No, they didn't name this ship after some gay-rights activist or Democrat party icon. This ship was named for a warrior and meant to go in harm's way.

Here's a sailor standing watch with an M-240. And he does have an ammo can at his feet.

Phalanx CIWS (Sea-Whiz) all ready for close-in anti-missile defense.

Forward 5"62 gun, with a range of 13NM and a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute. Belt-fed (!!) and pretty much entirely automated.

Comes factory standard with two Vertical Launch Missile Systems (VLMS), one forward here, and one aft. This one holds 32 missiles and the aft launcher holds 64.

Port side torpedo tubes.

Then it was up one deck to see a display of damage-control/firefighting gear.

The young sailor giving this lecture had just turned 21. Average age of the ship's enlisted crew is 25 and they operate this ship in places like the Persian Gulf and the Spratley Islands. These are real Americans, and you won't see them out protesting or demanding "safe spaces".

Aft VMLS.

Aft CWIS

Sailor on aft port watch with his 240, doing what sailors on watch do.

Other sailors doing what sailors off watch do. They are still young Americans, after all.

Flight deck. This ship deploys with two MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. The tracks on the deck allow the helos to be locked down quickly then pulled into the hangars.


Another display for the tourists...now we're talking my language.

The M-14 only uses 10-rd box mags here, and they keep them aboard for line-throwing and shark watch. Anything else, it's all M-167/M-4 or the Mossberg shotgun and Beretta 9mm.

I did get to pet the M-14 though. Springfield Armory with a lock on the selector.

Starboard side rigid-hull boats.

This wonderful ship can support infantry ashore with her guns but the main role is tracking enemy submarines in conjunction with Naval Air P-8 aircraft. Her radars are so finely-tuned that they can spot sub periscopes breaking the water surface and this particular ship has played cat-and-mouse with plenty of Chinese subs in the Spratleys. And impressive as she is, the class is aging towards obsolescence already and the newer ships coming out are light years ahead of this one, and are both larger and have much smaller crews due to increased automation.

Too cool indeed, and many thanks to the crew of Lassen for the tour, for their service, and for coming to New Orleans.