A ceremony was hosted to celebrate the keel authentication of future USS Charleston (LCS-18), the ninth Independence variant littoral combat ship, June 28.
Charlotte Riley, wife of former Charleston mayor Joseph Riley, serves as the ship’s sponsor and honorary member and advocate for the crew. U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (Republican – Alabama) served as the honorary keel authenticator during the ceremony and was present to weld his initials into the keel plate.
«The future USS Charleston (LCS-18) stands as a testament to the strong and resilient spirit of her namesake city», said Captain Tom Anderson, LCS program manager. «Once complete, this highly versatile warship will sail the world’s seas, carrying with her the backing of a city steeped in naval history».
Built by an industry team led by Austal USA, Charleston will be approximately 417 feet/127.1 m in length and have a width of nearly 103 feet/31.4 m.
LCS is a modular, reconfigurable ship, with three types of mission packages including surface warfare, mine countermeasures, and anti-submarine warfare. The LCS class consists of the Freedom variant and Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin – for LCS-1 and follow-on odd-numbered hulls. The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA – for LCS-6 and follow-on even-numbered hulls.
The Program Executive Office (PEO) Littoral Combat Ships is responsible for delivering and sustaining littoral mission capabilities to the fleet. Delivering high-quality warfighting assets while balancing affordability and capability is key to supporting the nation’s maritime strategy.
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 | San Diego, California | |
| 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) | 06-28-2016 | |||
| USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) | ||||
| USS Kansas City (LCS-22) | ||||
| USS Oakland (LCS-24) |
