2nd LCS delivered to Navy

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The littoral combat ship Independence pulls away from the pier Nov. 16 for its acceptance trials at Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.


2nd LCS delivered to Navy
By Christopher P. Cavas - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 18, 2009 18:30:15 EST

The Navy accepted its second Littoral Combat Ship on Dec. 18 during a short ceremony at Mobile, Ala., marking the point where the ship is formally transferred from its builders to become Navy property.

The Independence (LCS 2) is the first ship built at Austal USA’s shipyard to an aluminum, trimaran hull design by a team led by General Dynamics. The 418-foot-long, 2,784-ton ship ran acceptance trials in mid-November in the Gulf of Mexico, during which the Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV) found the ships’ propulsion plant, sea-keeping and self-defense performance to be “commendable.” Speeds of 46 knots were reached during the trials.

Construction on the Independence began in November 2005, and the ship was launched in April 2008.

A commissioning ceremony for the Independence is scheduled for Jan. 16 at Mobile, and the ship is scheduled to leave Alabama in late February or early March to head for the fleet concentration area at Norfolk, Va., and a further series of systems trials. After post-delivery work, the LCS eventually will head west to its future homeport of San Diego, Calif.

General Dynamics is competing with a Lockheed Martin team to build as many as 51 more LCS ships. Each team is building a second ship, and the Navy is to make a winner-take-all decision in the spring or summer as to which design will form the basis of the remaining ships.


Rest of article about this %704 million dollar aluminum wonder at: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/12/navy_LCS_accepted_121809w/