The U.S. Navy held a keel laying and authentication ceremony for the future USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) at Austal USA’s shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, April 10.

Former U.S. Secretary of Commerce and ship’s sponsor Penny Pritzker authenticated the keel for the 10th Independence variant of the littoral combat ship class during the ceremony. While keel laying traditionally represents the formal start of a ship’s construction, advanced modular shipbuilding allows fabrication of the ship to begin months in advance. Today, keel laying continues to symbolically recognize the joining of the ship’s components and the ceremonial beginning of the ship.

LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) seaframe program manager’s representative, Navy Commander Chris Addington, commended the Austal USA shipbuilders at the event. «Through the hard work and dedication of the men and women of Austal, this keel will be built up to a highly capable Navy ship», he said. «Thanks to all of you for your efforts to complete a great ship that will exemplify its namesake city».

Cincinnati will be approximately 417 feet/127.1 m in length, with a width of nearly 103 feet/31.4 m. LCS is a modular, reconfigurable ship designed to host interchangeable mission packages onto the seaframe in support of surface warfare, mine countermeasures, and anti-submarine warfare. The Navy’s LCS class consists of the Freedom variant and the Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA and the Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin. Both variants are being purchased under an innovative block-buy acquisition strategy. There are currently 13 LCSs under construction.

Program Executive Office Littoral Combat Ships is responsible for delivering and sustaining littoral mission capabilities to the fleet.

 

The Independence Variant

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	09-10-2016	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	05-12-2016
USS Tulsa (LCS-16)	01-11-2016
USS Charleston (LCS-18)	06-28-2016
USS Cincinnati (LCS-20)	04-10-2017
USS Kansas City (LCS-22)
USS Oakland (LCS-24)