The Navy commissioned its newest Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), USS Sioux City (LCS-11), during a 9 a.m. ceremony Saturday, November 17, at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
U.S. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa delivered the commissioning ceremony’s principal address. Mary Winnefeld, the wife of former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Admiral James «Sandy» Winnefeld, was the ship’s sponsor. The ceremony was highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when Mrs. Winnefeld gives the first order to «man our ship and bring her to life»!
«This ship is named in honor of Sioux City, Iowa, but represents more than one city», said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. «USS Sioux City (LCS-11) represents an investment in readiness and lethality, and is a testament to the increased capabilities made possible by a true partnership between the Department of the Navy and our industrial base».
The future USS Sioux City, designated LCS-11, is the 13th LCS to enter the fleet and the sixth of the Freedom-variant design. The future USS Sioux City is the first naval vessel to be named in honor of Sioux City, Iowa. The fourth-largest city in the state, Sioux City was founded in 1854 at the navigational head of the Missouri River and takes its name from one of a group of North American Indian tribes that make up the Great Sioux Nation.
The littoral combat ship is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, while capable of open-ocean tasking and winning against 21st-century coastal threats such as submarines, mines and swarming small craft. They are capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control and deterrence.
USS Sioux City (LCS-11) will be homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Florida.
Ship Design Specifications
| Hull | Advanced semiplaning steel monohull |
| Length Overall | 389 feet/118.6 m |
| Beam Overall | 57 feet/17.5 m |
| Draft | 13.5 feet/4.1 m |
| Full Load Displacement | Approximately 3,200 metric tons |
| Top Speed | Greater than 40 knots/46 mph/74 km/h |
| Range at top speed | 1,000 NM/1,151 miles/1,852 km |
| Range at cruise speed | 4,000 NM/4,603 miles/7,408 km |
| Watercraft Launch and Recovery | Up to Sea State 4 |
| Aircraft Launch and Recovery | Up to Sea State 5 |
| Propulsion | Combined diesel and gas turbine with steerable water jet propulsion |
| Power | 85 MW/113,600 horsepower |
| Hangar Space | Two MH-60 Romeo Helicopters |
| One MH-60 Romeo Helicopter and three Vertical Take-off and Land Tactical Unmanned Air Vehicles (VTUAVs) | |
| Core Crew | Less than 50 |
| Accommodations for 75 sailors provide higher sailor quality of life than current fleet | |
| Integrated Bridge System | Fully digital nautical charts are interfaced to ship sensors to support safe ship operation |
| Core Self-Defense Suite | Includes 3D air search radar |
| Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) gunfire control system | |
| Rolling-Airframe Missile Launching System | |
| 57-mm Main Gun | |
| Mine, Torpedo Detection | |
| Decoy Launching System |
Freedom-class
| Ship | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| USS Freedom (LCS-1) | 06-02-2005 | 09-23-2006 | 11-08-2008 | San Diego, California |
| USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) | 07-11-2009 | 12-07-2010 | 09-22-2012 | San Diego, California |
| USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) | 10-27-2011 | 12-18-2013 | 11-21-2015 | San Diego, California |
| USS Detroit (LCS-7) | 08-11-2012 | 10-18-2014 | 10-22-2016 | San Diego, California |
| USS Little Rock (LCS-9) | 06-27-2013 | 07-18-2015 | 12-16-2017 | San Diego, California |
| USS Sioux City (LCS-11) | 02-19-2014 | 01-30-2016 | 11-17-2018 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS Wichita (LCS-13) | 02-09-2015 | 09-17-2016 | ||
| USS Billings (LCS-15) | 11-02-2015 | 07-01-2017 | ||
| USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) | 07-18-2016 | 04-18-2018 | ||
| USS St. Louis (LCS-19) | 05-17-2017 | |||
| USS Minneapolis/St. Paul (LCS-21) | 02-22-2018 | |||
| USS Cooperstown (LCS-23) | 08-14-2018 | |||
| USS Marinette LCS-25 | ||||
| USS Nantucket (LCS-27) |