US Navy Commissions 3rd Littoral Combat Ship

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LCS 3 Ft. Worth at Galvestone TX
The nation’s third Littoral Combat Ship, Fort Worth, sits docked at Galveston’s Pier 21 as it waited for its commissioning by the US Navy on Sept. 22 - Photo: Lockheed Martin
LCS 3 Ft. Worth at Galvestone TX
The nation’s third Littoral Combat Ship, Fort Worth, sits docked at Galveston’s Pier 21 as it waited for its commissioning by the US Navy on Sept. 22 – Photo: Lockheed Martin

GALVESTON, Texas, Sept. 22, 2012 – The U.S. Navy commissioned today the nation’s third Littoral Combat Ship – USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) – in Galveston, Texas. Fort Worth, the second of the Freedom-variant in the LCS class, successfully passed Acceptance Trials in May and was delivered to the U.S. Navy in June, two months ahead of schedule.

LCS 3 Ft. Worth at Galvestone TX
LCS 3 Ft. Worth at Galvestone TX
The vessel’s homeport will be in San Diego, Calif., where it will be integrated into the fleet and the industry-Navy team will conduct additional program testing and crew training.

Milwaukee (LCS 5) and Detroit (LCS 7) are under construction at the Marinette Marine Corporation MMC’s shipyard. Little Rock (LCS 9) andSioux City (LCS 11) were awarded in March 2012 and are in the early stages of procuring long-lead materials.

The ‘Freedom’ class Littoral combat Ship (LCS) will support the Navy in defeating growing littoral, or close-to-shore, threats and provide access and dominance in coastal waters, helping keep critical commercial shipping lanes open worldwide.

Remote Mine-Hunting Vehicle
The modular design of the LCS allows the ship to swap out different mission modules, such as the Remote Mine-Hunting Vehicle seen above, depending on the mission, such as mine, anti-submarine and surface warfare. Photo: Lockheed Martin