The newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, the future USS Marinette (LCS-25) successfully launched into the Menominee River on October 31.
Named for the city in which it is being built, Marinette will become only the second U.S. Navy ship named in the city’s honor and the first commissioned ship. The first Marinette (YTB-79), a Natick-class large harbor tug, entered service in 1967 and operated in the Fifth Naval District headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia.
The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class consists of the Freedom variant and Independence variant, designed and built by two industry teams. Lockheed Martin leads the production of the Freedom-variant.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corp. built USS Marinette (LCS-25), the 13th Freedom-variant ship. Currently, 11 LCSs of both variants are under construction.
LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. The Freedom-variant LCS integrates new technology and capability to support current and future mission capability, from deep water to the littorals.
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 | 01-12-2019 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS Billings (LCS-15) | 11-02-2015 | 07-01-2017 | 08-03-2019 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) | 07-18-2016 | 04-18-2018 | 10-26-2019 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS St. Louis (LCS-19) | 05-17-2017 | 12-15-2018 | 08-08-2020 | Mayport, Florida |
| USS Minneapolis/St. Paul (LCS-21) | 02-22-2018 | 06-15-2019 | ||
| USS Cooperstown (LCS-23) | 08-14-2018 | 01-19-2020 | ||
| USS Marinette (LCS-25) | 03-27-2019 | 10-31-2020 | ||
| USS Nantucket (LCS-27) | 10-09-2019 | |||
| USS Beloit (LCS-29) | 07-22-2020 | |||
| USS Cleveland (LCS-31) |