Navy Names Littoral Combat Ships Milwaukee and Detroit

Sec­re­tary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today that the next two Free­dom-class lit­toral com­bat ships (LCS) to be built in Wis­con­sin will be named the USS Mil­wau­kee and the USS Detroit.
These two ships are part of a dual block buy of LCS class ships announced by Mabus in Decem­ber 2010. By procur­ing both ver­sions of the LCS — Lock­heed Martin’s semi­plan­ing mono­hull and Gen­er­al Dynamic’s alu­minum tri­maran – the Navy can sta­bi­lize the LCS pro­gram and the indus­tri­al base with an award of 20 ships; increase ship pro­cure­ment rate to sup­port oper­a­tional require­ments; sus­tain com­pe­ti­tion through the pro­gram; and enhance for­eign mil­i­tary sales oppor­tu­ni­ties. Both designs meet the Navy’s LCS require­ment.

How­ev­er, the diver­si­ty pro­vid­ed by two designs pro­vides oper­a­tional flexibility. 

Mil­wau­kee and Detroit will be designed to defeat grow­ing lit­toral threats and pro­vide access and dom­i­nance in the coastal waters. A fast, agile sur­face com­bat­ant, the LCS pro­vides the required war fight­ing capa­bil­i­ties and oper­a­tional flex­i­bil­i­ty to exe­cute focused mis­sions close to the shore such as mine war­fare, anti-sub­ma­rine war­fare and sur­face warfare. 

The Mil­wau­kee and Detroit will be 378 feet in length, have a water­line beam of 57 feet, dis­place approx­i­mate­ly 3,000 tons, and will make speed in excess of 40 knots. 

Con­struc­tion of Mil­wau­kee and Detroit will be by a Lock­heed Mar­tin led indus­try team in Marinette, Wis. 

The selec­tion of Mil­wau­kee, des­ig­nat­ed LCS 5, hon­ors the city’s cit­i­zens and their con­tin­ued sup­port to our nation’s mil­i­tary. Mil­wau­kee has been a city of nation­al pride since its offi­cial found­ing in 1846. This makes the sixth ship to bear the city’s name. 

The selec­tion of Detroit, des­ig­nat­ed LCS 7, hon­ors the cit­i­zens of the Motor City and their ongo­ing patri­ot­ic spir­it and mil­i­tary sup­port. Detroit is a major port city on the Detroit Riv­er in the state of Michi­gan. It was found­ed on July 24, 1701. Detroit is the sev­enth ship to bear the city’s name. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

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