Battleship, the recommissioning

Nevermind that the Navy mothballed the vessels years ago, a trailer for “Battleship” is out.

The movie, due in theaters in May 2012, appears to be a water-based “Independence Day,” complete with mysterious alien aircraft with sinister things to destroy the entire planet, or at least every West Coast-based ship.

Directed by Peter Berg, the flick stars Liam Neeson, Taylor Kitsch (he worked with Berg on “Friday Night Lights”), Brooklyn Decker, Alexander Skarsgard and Rihanna. But quite a few ships make an appearance as well. Analyzing the trailer in super slow-motion (Read: hitting the pause button every few seconds and scribbling on a sticky note) a few ships can be picked out. In no particular order, there’s the carrier Ronald Reagan, destroyers Paul Hamilton, Curtis Wilbur, Fitzgerald and, based on a hull number and a command cap, John Paul Jones. The amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard is in there, too. There are a few references to the destroyer Sampson. There’s also an actual battleship, complete with a wooden deck. Exactly how the relic ended up in the movie is unclear.

There’s one big cameo. Super-secret sources have told Scoop Deck that Navy Secretary Ray Mabus appears as a captain decked in an NWU. Mabus’ office hasn’t responded to several requests for comment, leaving everyone to wonder: What does he prefer, the suits he wears as the Navy’s top civilian or the digi-cam he wears on set?

The trailer has been pulled from YouTube, but Yahoo has a copy.

A scene from "Battleship." Basically, the admiral, played by Liam Neeson, is telling the lieutenant, played by Taylor Kitsch, that he's a big mess-up. Screengrab from Yahoo.com