ROCKLAND

At the 64th annual Rockland Lobster Festival, civilians were able to take a rare tour of an active-duty Arleigh Burke-class destroyer built at Bath Iron Works nearly 20 years ago.

Visitors were transported to the USS Mahan, anchored in the harbor, via boat. Once on board, tours were greeted by Ensign Jack Weaver who served as a guide. Groups were shown the destroyer’s many weapons systems, from torpedoes to the .50 caliber machine guns on the deck.

While the Mark 41 Vertical Launch System may be the ship’s most important weapons system, it is hardly the most imposing. For visitors, there’s nothing to see but a slightly raised area of the deck with a few dozen flaps. Each flap, however, is a cell holding a missile that is launched vertically. Those missiles are capable of intercepting aircraft or other missiles and striking land targets miles away. There are 90 cells on board.

“I cover most of the warfare areas just with this system alone,” said Weaver. “The combat system on board this ship is the most state of the art in the world.”

Weaver noted that the system had yet to be used in combat, although the ship has been involved in some close calls in the last several months.

In January, the crew fired three warning shots at armed Iranian vessels while navigating the Strait of Hormuz. The crew fired warning shots from one of the .50 caliber guns on the deck as the vessels approached at a high speed, though they turned back after.

Later in April, the destroyer opted to send warning flares as an Iranian Revolutionary Guard vessel approached. While that vessel also turned away, encounters of this kind are relatively common in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz.

The USS Mahan’s homeport is Norfolk, Virginia. The destroyer recently returned from a multi-month deployment with the 5th and 6th fleets. Since its return, Cmdr. Harold Bowman-Trayford has taken over as the commanding officer.

Arleigh Burke-class destroyers like Mahan cost approximately $1.3 billion each to produce today.

At just 23 years old, Weaver is barely older than the destroyer on which he serves — Mahan will turn 20 on Valentine’s Day. However, that’s not unusual. Weaver said that he was about the average age of a Navy officer.

“I’d put the median range at close to about 25,” said Weaver. “So it’s a young crew, and it’s a young crew that’s entrusted with a lot.”