USS Freedom (LCS-1)

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For other ships of the same name, see USS Freedom.
the Freedom's launch on Sept. 23, 2006
Career (US) United States Navy Ensign
Ordered: May 2004 (NVR states December 15, 2004)
Builder: Marinette Marine, Marinette, Wisconsin
Laid down: 2 June 2005
Launched: 23 September 2006
Commissioned: Scheduled for September 2008 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin[1]
Homeport: Planned San Diego, CA
Motto: Fast, Fearless, Focused
Fate: Under construction
General characteristics
Displacement: 2500 tons
Length: 379 ft (115.5 m)
Beam: 43 ft (13.1 m)
Draft: 12.1 ft (3.7 m)
Propulsion: 2 Rolls-Royce MT30 36 MW gas turbines, 2 Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, 4 Rolls-Royce waterjets
Speed: 45 knots (sea state 3)
Range: 1,500 nmi (2,800 km) at 50 knots (60 mph/90 km/h), 4,300 nmi (8,000 km) at 20 knots (20 mph/40 km/h)
Endurance: 21 days (336 hours)
Boats and landing
craft carried:		 11 m RHIB, 40 ft (12 m) high-speed boats
Complement: 15 to 50 core crew, 75 mission crew (Blue and Gold crews)
Armament:
Aircraft carried:

USS Freedom (LCS-1), the lead ship of the Freedom class of littoral combat ships (LCS), is the third vessel of the United States Navy to be so named.

Contents

[edit] Construction

The construction contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin's LCS team (Lockheed Martin, Gibbs & Cox, Marinette Marine, Bollinger Shipyards) in May 2004. Her keel was laid down on 2 June 2005, by Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin.[2][3] The ship was sponsored by Birgit Smith, the widow of United States Army Sergeant 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Mrs. Smith's initials are welded on the ship's keel. Freedom was christened on 23 September 2006,[4] and is expected to be delivered in 2008.

The ship is a semi-planing monohull 377 feet (115 m) in length, displaces 3,000 tonnes and can go faster than 40 knots (50 mph/70 km/h). The LCS core crew will be 40 sailors, usually joined by a mission package crew and an aviation detachment for a total crew of about 75. It is designed to be a fast, maneuverable and networked surface combatant for missions such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and humanitarian relief.[5]

Mk 110 57 mm gun
Mk 110 57 mm gun

The flight deck is 1.5 times the size of that of a standard surface ship, and uses a Trigon traversing system to move helicopters in and out of the hangar. It has two ways to launch and recover various mission packages: a stern ramp and a starboard side door near the waterline. It has a roll-on/roll-off ramp. The mission module bay has a 3-axis crane for positioning modules or cargo. The fore deck has a modular weapons zone which can be used for a 57 mm gun turret or missile launcher. A Rolling Airframe Missile launcher is mounted above the hangar for short-range defense against aircraft and cruise missiles, and .50-caliber gun mounts are provided topside.

Freedom is the first of two dramatically different LCS designs being produced; the other, USS Independence (LCS-2), is under construction by a team led by General Dynamics's Bath Iron Works and Austal in Mobile, Alabama.

The ship will be commissioned in Milwaukee and home ported in San Diego, California.

[edit] Construction problems

Cost overruns during Freedom's construction combined with projected future overruns led the government to cancel LCS-3 (the second Lockheed Martin ship) on April 12, 2007.[citation needed]

On April 25, 2008 the New York Times ran a highly critical article, arguing that both Freedom and competitor Independence demonstrated a failure of the Navy's littoral combat ship program.[6]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ USS Freedom Commisioning - Events
  2. ^ Portions of this article are based on various press releases. (cite specific releases)
  3. ^ Onley, Dawn. Lockheed Martin to build advanced Navy ship. Government Computer News. Retrieved on September 23, 2006.
  4. ^ First Littoral Combat Ship Christened. Navy News. Retrieved on September 28, 2006.
  5. ^ US Navy LCS website
  6. ^ Costly Lesson on How Not to Build a Navy Ship

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.

[edit] External links


Flight 0 littoral combat ships
Freedom-class littoral combat ships: Freedom
Independence-class littoral combat ships: Independence
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