A destroyer is one of the most lethal ships in the Navy; it can sustain on its own but it's also critical to help the fleet succeed.
Destroyers, also known as “small boys,” will go out and train for months at a time to make sure they are ready to protect the strike group and the carrier as the capital ship.
“We’re known as the small boys in comparison to the larger deck ships like aircraft carriers or the ships that carry marines from coast to coast,” said Ensign Judd Linscott.
The destroyers may be called the “small boys,” but don’t let the name fool you.
“We have missiles, we have land attack missiles, we have torpedoes… we can do a little bit of everything,” he said. “A destroyer is really the jack-of-all-trades of Navy ships whose motto is to ‘clear the way.’”
Among many missions, destroyers ensure safe navigation for the fleet, protect the ship, and send tomahawks inbound to enemy targets.
Ensign Judd Linscott is the Operations Intelligence Officer for the USS Porter. He showed News 3 Anchor Erin Miller around the ship as it was in port.
In addition to the small passageways, Erin noted a lot of large weapons, including the close-in weapon system. or CIWS.
“If any missiles or helicopters get really close in, it fires at a rate of 2,500 rounds per minute. It’s just a wall of bullets, taking down anything that wants to harm us,” he said.
Linscott also pointed to the five-inch main battery.
“It’s probably our biggest and baddest of our actual guns. It can be used against enemy ships, enemy aircraft and can adjust itself to take a clear shot even in bad seas," he said.
The technology on board is constantly evolving to keep the ship mission ready.
The USS Porter's mission is to patrol the Mediterranean Sea, North Sea, and the Baltic Sea.
