If you might be wondering what ship is at the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station, you have come to the right place.

In port right now and clearly visible from PCH, is the ARLEIGH BURKE-class Guided Missile Destroyer, USS PREBLE (DDG 88).
According to the ship’s official information, “she is capable of fulfilling multi-mission duties in support of carrier battle groups, expeditionary strike groups and surface action groups; including Air, Surface and Undersea Warfare. Centered on the AEGIS Combat System, her Phased-Array RADAR, Vertical Launch System, Close-in Weapons System (CIWS), Tomahawk cruise missiles and LAMPS Anti-Submarine Warfare Weapons System, coupled with a state-of-the-art gas turbine propulsion plant make her one of the most powerful surface warships ever to be put to sea.”

Who could argue with a statement like that? Not your humble editors, that’s for sure. The PREBLE certainly is a powerful warship, there’s no doubt about that. At a length of 509 feet and a displacement of 9,200 tons, she is a bit larger than the USS Higgins (DDG-76),on which we reported in early November. Even though the two ships are of the same class, there are small differences between them. Both ships carry a compliment of 23 officers, 24 Chief Petty Officers, and 291 enlisted personnel, and both are home ported in San Diego.

Preble’s maiden deployment was in June 2004 and in 2007, she was deployed with the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74) Carrier Strike Group. Preble supported Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, Expeditionary Strike Force training and exercise Valiant Shield 2007 during the deployment with the Stennis.

For security reasons, the Navy does not announce the ships specific plans, but we know that the Stennis Carrier Strike Group, after recent trials off Southern California, is preparing for a deployment in January of next year. San Diego based ships come to Seal Beach to load and off load weapons. This can be after a deployment, before entering a maintenance period, or in preparation for a deployment. Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach is a United States Navy weapons and munitions loading, storage and maintenance facility which has been in active service since 1944.