The U.S. Navy christened its newest Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), the future USS Oakland (LCS-24), during a 10 a.m. EDT ceremony Saturday, June 29, in Mobile, Alabama.
U.S. Representative Ken Calvert of California delivered the christening ceremony’s principal address. Kate Brandt, Google’s sustainability officer, served as the ship’s sponsor. In a time-honored Navy tradition, Brandt christened the ship by breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow.
«The christening of the future USS Oakland marks an important step toward this great ship’s entry into the fleet», said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. «The dedication and skilled work of our industry partners ensure this ship will represent the great city of Oakland and serve our Navy and Marine Corps team for decades to come».
The future USS Oakland (LCS-24) is a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric «anti-access» threats such as mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft. The ship will be homeported in San Diego.
The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin in Marinette, Wisconsin (for the odd-numbered hulls). The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama (for LCS-6 and subsequent even-numbered hulls).
The future USS Oakland (LCS-24) is the third U.S. Navy ship named for the city in California. The first Oakland (2847) was commissioned in 1918 and used for cargo transport. The second, CL 95, was commissioned in 1942, and during seven years of service, it played a key role in many antiaircraft missions across the Asia-Pacific theater of operations.
The Independence Variant of the LCS Class
| PRINCIPAL DIMENSIONS | |
| Construction | Hull and superstructure – aluminium alloy |
| Length overall | 421 feet/128.3 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 | 09-10-2016 | San Diego, California |
| USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) | 04-16-2014 | 02-25-2015 | 06-10-2017 | San Diego, California |
| USS Omaha (LCS-12) | 02-18-2015 | 11-20-2015 | 02-03-2018 | San Diego, California |
| USS Manchester (LCS-14) | 06-29-2015 | 05-12-2016 | 05-26-2018 | San Diego, California |
| USS Tulsa (LCS-16) | 01-11-2016 | 03-16-2017 | 02-16-2019 | San Diego, California |
| USS Charleston (LCS-18) | 06-28-2016 | 09-14-2017 | 03-02-2019 | San Diego, California |
| USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) | 04-10-2017 | 05-22-2018 | ||
| USS Kansas City (LCS-22) | 11-15-2017 | 10-19-2018 | ||
| USS Oakland (LCS-24) | 07-20-2018 | 07-21-2019 | San Diego, California | |
| USS Mobile (LCS-26) | 12-14-2018 | |||
| USS Savannah (LCS-28) | ||||
| USS Canberra (LCS-30) | ||||
| USS Santa Barbara (LCS-32) | ||||
| USS Augusta (LCS-34) | ||||
| USS Kingsville (LCS-36) | ||||
| USS Pierre (LCS-38) |