Austal hosted a keel-laying ceremony for the future USS Tulsa (LCS-16) at the Mobile, Alabama shipyard on January 11, marking the first significant milestone in the ship’s construction. This ship is the sixth Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) built at Austal under the 10-ship, $3.5 billion block buy contract awarded to Austal in 2010.
Ship sponsor Kathy Taylor, former Tulsa mayor and CEO of Impact Tulsa, authenticated the keel by welding her initials onto an aluminum plate that will be placed in the hull of the ship.
«It amazes me how fast this ship is coming together», Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said. «The speedy construction of this amazing ship is evidence of the rapid maturity of Austal’s LCS program, a testament to the extreme level of talent and experience displayed by Austal’s shipbuilding team».
Austal’s LCS program delivered USS Independence (LCS-2) in 2009, USS Coronado (LCS-4) in 2013, and USS Jackson (LCS-6) in 2015. Six additional LCS are under construction at the Mobile, Alabama shipyard. Montgomery (LCS-8) and Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) are preparing for builders trials later this year. Omaha (LCS-12) was christened December 19, and Manchester (LCS-14) will complete final assembly and prepare for launch later this year. Modules for Charleston (LCS-18) are under construction as well.
Austal is also building 10 Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPF) for the U.S. Navy under a $1.6 billion block-buy contract. USNS Trenton (EPF-5) marked the fifth vessel in this class to be delivered since the inception of the program. Both USNS Spearhead (EPF-1) and USNS Millinocket (EPF-3) are currently deployed supporting Naval fleet operations.
The Independence Variant of the LCS Class
| PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS | |
| Construction | Hull and superstructure – aluminium alloy |
| Length overall | 417 feet/127.1 m |
| Beam overall | 103 feet/31.4 m |
| Hull draft (maximum) | 14.8 feet/4.5 m |
| PAYLOAD AND CAPACITIES | |
| Complement | Core Crew – 40 |
| Mission crew – 36 | |
| Berthing | 76 in a mix of single, double & quad berthing compartments |
| Maximum mission load | 210 tonnes |
| Mission Bay Volume | 118,403 feet3/11,000 m3 |
| Mission packages | Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) |
| Surface Warfare (SUW) | |
| Mine Warfare (MIW) | |
| PROPULSION | |
| Main engines | 2 × GE LM2500 |
| 2 × MTU 20V 8000 | |
| Waterjets | 4 × Wartsila steerable |
| Bow thruster | Retractable azimuthing |
| PERFORMANCE | |
| Speed | 40 knots/46 mph/74 km/h |
| Range | 3,500 NM/4,028 miles/6,482 km |
| Operational limitation | Survival in Sea State 8 |
| MISSION/LOGISTICS DECK | |
| Deck area | >21,527.8 feet2/2,000 m2 |
| Launch and recovery | Twin boom extending crane |
| Loading | Side ramp |
| Internal elevator to hanger | |
| Launch/Recover Watercraft | Sea State 4 |
| FLIGHT DECK AND HANGER | |
| Flight deck dimensions | 2 × SH-60 or 1 × CH-53 or multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles/Vertical Take-off and Land Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs/VTUAVs) |
| Hanger | Aircraft stowage & maintenance for 2 × SH-60 |
| Launch/Recover Aircraft | Sea State 5 |
| WEAPONS AND SENSORS | |
| Standard | 1 × 57-mm gun |
| 4 × 12.7-mm/.50 caliber guns | |
| 1 × Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) launcher | |
| 3 × weapons modules | |
Independence-class
| Ship | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| USS Independence (LCS-2) | 01-19-2006 | 04-26-2008 | 01-16-2010 | San Diego, California |
| USS Coronado (LCS-4) | 12-17-2009 | 01-14-2012 | 04-05-2014 | San Diego, California |
| USS Jackson (LCS-6) | 08-01-2011 | 12-14-2013 | 12-05-2015 | San Diego, California |
| USS Montgomery (LCS-8) | 06-25-2013 | 08-06-2014 | ||
| USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) | 04-16-2014 | 02-25-2015 | ||
| USS Omaha (LCS-12) | 02-18-2015 | 11-20-2015 | ||
| USS Manchester (LCS-14) | 06-29-2015 | |||
| USS Tulsa (LCS-16) | 01-11-2016 | |||
| USS Charleston (LCS-18) | ||||
| USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) | ||||
| USS Kansas City (LCS-22) | ||||
| USS Oakland (LCS-24) |
