USS Truxton . The newest U.S. ship

The USS Truxtun steamed into the port of Charleston near the end of April, and when the ship opened its gangplank for public tours, I couldn't resist stepping aboard. The Truxtun is the US Navy's newest ship. Built in a Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard building naval ships since 1938, the USS Truxtun is an AEGIS guided missile destroyer, the 25th of its generation built for the Navy by defense contractor Northrop-Grumman. When I saw the ship, it had not yet been commissioned.











The 521-foot Truxtun is the newest of a class of ships that are the largest and most powerful destroyers in the world. During its 2008 builder's trails, U.S. Navy Capt. Beth Dexter, The Navy's Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Gulf Coast, praised the Truxtun's performance: "She needs some polish -- but make no mistake -- I'd have no hesitation in taking this one to the fight!"



The Truxtun's motto? It's taken from words spoken by its namesake, Thomas Truxtun, who went to sea at 12 and commanded his own ship at 20, and later commanded the Navy's USS Constellation, a 3-mast, 38-gun frigate built in 1797 at Baltimore's Fells Point, Harris Creek Shipyard, from a controversial design by Quaker master ship builder, Joshua Humphreys. That ship, under Thomas Truxtun's command, was the first naval ship put to sea and became the first US Navy ship to defeat an enemy ship when, in 1799, the fastest warship in the French fleet was forced to strike colors, outmaneuvered and outfought by the Constellation's attack of hull shots and racking broadsides. Truxtun's quote: “Attack. Pursue. Vanquish.”










Today, the current guided missile destroyer Truxtun uses the AEGIS computer-commanded combat system and the SPY-1 radar to power and operate the most powerful force deterrent in the fleet.



The AEGIS combat system, at its heart, is a computer controlled combat and data system. It can simultaneously launch strikes against missiles or other targets in the air, and on land and sea, either surface or underwater.


The Truxtun can withstand and still operate successfully after taking a direct missile, but such a hit is unlikely with defensive measures that include construction angles for sleath design, radar absorbing construction materials, electronic counter measures, anti-submarine measures, and physical anti-aircraft chaff.









In fact, the AEGIS combat system is so advanced it pioneered a new approach to Navy ship building. The Truxtun's steel hull, mechanical, and electrical systems are designed and built to support its combat systems and mission. Its computer programs and back-ups, the ship's records of repair parts, maintenance, personnel, and tactical plans are linked and integrated to constantly determine the ship's multi-mission capacity, readiness and best options.


AEGIS is the most capable missile launch system the Navy has ever put to sea. In any weather, including full cyclones, AEGIS can attack multiple targets underwater, and from wave top to directly overhead, at all speeds from subsonic to supersonic. The ship hangars two attack helicopters, including one specifically designed for anti-submarine missions.


The eyes of the AEGIS system is the AN/SPY-1, a phased-array radar that can detect, identify, and track over 100 targets at the same time, until each is killed.


Phased construction of AEGIS destroyers allows for new technology or improvements in any aspect of operation to be built in immediately, in the shipyard. The Truxtun, however, ran into a myriad of obstacles that hindered and delayed its construction. Hurricane Katrina shut down the Pascagoula ship yard and made it impossible to receive supplies and parts for construction. The ship caught fire while under construction, and all of the fire-damaged areas had to be ripped out, repaired, and rebuilt. A union strike also held up work.









The AEGIS system and the class of destroyers it supports inherits the tradition of anti-missile defense developed by the Polaris submarines, originally based in Charleston. A Polaris submarine could stay at sea for up to 3 years, and its 16 missiles had a strike range of 2,500 miles.




Today, the USS Truxtun has 16 vertical missile launchers that fire 3 different types of missiles, including “smart” tomahawks. Its arsenal includes more than 50 Tomahawks. But its major weapon is the Standard missile (SM-3), a solid fuel anti-ballistic 3,000 pound missile armed with kinetic warheads that have the capacity to knock down satellites or enemy ballistic missiles at 300 miles, the distance from Charleston to Atlanta, Georgia. A kinetic warhead carries no explosives or nuclear charges. It destroys its target by the blunt force of its high speed impact, similar to a rock shattering a windshield, or a battering ram splintering a door.




The ship carries the Sea Sparrow, a missile used for ship self-defense and a cache of Harpoons, surface-to-surface missiles. The ship also has a large arsenal of other specialized missiles and guns, including anti-submarine missiles.



As mighty as the AEGIS combat system is and as powerful as its battery of missiles and weapons, the ship's mission is made even better its personnel. The USS Truxtun has a crew of 265, 23 of which are officers. Fifty members of the crew are women, including the executive officer, the second in command, who I met in Mellow Mushroom, a popular pizza parlor in downtown Charleston. Pascagoula also has a Mellow Mushroom; the EX-O recognized the name when she decided to break for a few from the ship. Born in upper New York state, the Navy has been her only career job since graduating from college. She first served in communications, and by successfully completing a long series of Navy schools, and gaining outstanding performance evaluations, she now stands second in command on the Truxtun's maiden cruise.









Many members of the crew, men and women, were on board during the civilian tours. Relaxed, alert, respectful, cooperative, close knit, ready to work, including bringing boxes of tee shirts to the souvenir tables where hats, fleece, tee shirts, and other Truxtun items were for sale.


The transformation of the Navy into a service that reflects the American ideal of equal opportunity based on merit and performance open to all genders and nationalities in the highest service of nation is a model for armed forces around the world. Morale has improved, and the esprit de corp is a tangible asset; the differences have added to a common respect.


The Arleigh Burke class of destroyers, to which the Truxtun belongs, was in danger of being replaced by a new class with improved capacity for land attacks and a radical increase and redesign of the missile storage and launch systems. The new system, however, proved too expensive to build, with costs rising 50 percent over initial plans. Little improvement in defense against long range missiles weighed in torpedoing the new class.


The AEGIS combat system is being used in the naval ships of Japan (4), Norway (5), Spain (5), and Korea (2). China has developed a similar system that appears to have size and launch advantages. The US, the world leader by far, has 64 destroyers and 22 cruisers employing AEGIS.

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