Editorial - USS Russel: Now here is a real warship

Over several weeks running, the government, aided in no small measure by erroneous reporting by media, has been trumpeting the acquisition of what is supposed to be the country’s largest “warship,” a resurrected cutter from the US Coast Guard.

Had media been diligent in its reporting, or if in fact it knew any better, the terms cutter and Coast Guard ought to have served as instant red flags warning that something was wrong with the “warship” claim.

A cutter is a small to medium size vessel normally used for harbor services like carrying harbor pilots, or for law enforcement and border patrols. The coast guard, on the other hand, is a naval branch tasked with search and rescue, law enforcement, and border control.

None of those definitions comes close to anything related to warfare. And this can be determined by paying close attention to the details about the BRP Gregorio del Pilar, the cutter we resurrected from retirement from the US Coast Guard and rebranded as a “warship.’

The ship’s main armament is a single Melara 76 mm cannon. The Philippines, however, plans to install it with a 25mm chain gun, six 50-caliber machineguns and two 20mm cannons. Clearly, these armaments are not for warfare but merely for law enforcement purposes.

As if by providence, the USS Russell, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer of the US Navy, is in Cebu on a goodwill visit. Anchored offshore, she will be open to public visits. Members of the media will finally get a clear idea of what a real warship is.

The USS Russell is a destroyer and thus one of the smaller warships. But it is definitely bigger than the BRP Gregorio del Pilar. And by its armaments, it needs no media misinformation to know that it is a warship, even just by looking at it.

The USS Russel has two 25mm chain guns to the BRP Gregorio del Pilar’s one. It has four 50-caliber machineguns to our one. In addition, it has two 20 mm Phalanx guns and a single Mark 45 5/54in main gun. Aside from the guns, it can fire torpedoes and Tomahawk or Asroc missiles.

Now that is a warship. And the mediamen who will have the opportunity to visit the USS Russel today will hopefully be enlightened as to the difference between a warship that is really meant for war and warfare, and a “warship” that is only so as a political hype.