It isn’t often we see a new modern destroyer steam past in such elegance. She is the USS McCampbell, homported in Yokosuka, Japan and in this clip, headed up the Columbia River to Portland, Oregon for modernization. The shot is so great since we get to stand on the riverbank and see her steam right past. Note her dipped anchor is ready to let go which ships do when they’re in close quarters and may have to stop suddenly. Otherwise, they haul the anchor back in when the ship is safely moored.
These Arleigh Burke class destroyers are amazing. They have four LM 2500 gas turbines that provide 100,000 horsepower. Thus, they keep up with the fast carriers at thirty plus knots and up. See the spec sheet below. As of 2016, there were 62 of these destroyers in service. At last count, another 42 are planned, the largest class of ships since World War II.
My thanks to my USS Tingey (DD 539) shipmate, Jim Ferguson, for his great camerawork on the mighty Columbia thirty miles upriver on the Washington side and giving all of us a great look.
(Video clip Courtesy of James V. Ferguson)
Displacement: 9,200 tons
Length: 500 ft. 6 “ (155.30 M)
Beam: 66 ft. (20 m)
Draft: 31 ft. (9.4 m)
Propulsion: 4 GE LM 2500 gas turbines. 2 shafts
Speed: Excess 30 kts. (56 km/h – 35 mph)
Compliment: 380 officers and enlisted
Armament: One 5 inch/62, Mk 45 Mod 4 Naval gun
Four 25 mm Mk 38 auto cannons
Four 50 cal. Machine uns
One 20 mm Phalonx CIWS
Two Mk.32 Torpedo Tubes. Mk. 46 torpedoes
96 – cell Mk 41 vertical launch system
RIM 66 Standard Missile 2
BGM Tomahawk
RUM 139 VL ASROC missiles
Aircraft: Two SH 60 Seahawk Helicopters