MARINETTE, Wis. — The future USS St. Louis (LCS 19) successfully concluded its acceptance trial on Dec. 13 after completing a series of graded in-port and underway demonstrations on the Great Lakes for the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey.
The acceptance trial is the last significant milestone before delivery of the ship to the Navy, which is planned for this spring. During the trial, the Navy conducted comprehensive tests of the littoral combat ship (LCS) intended to demonstrate the performance of the propulsion plant, ship handling and auxiliary systems.
“The strong performance during this Acceptance Trial is an important milestone in the life of the future USS St. Louis,” said LCS program manager Capt. Mike Taylor. “St. Louis will be an exceptional addition to the LCS fleet.”
Following delivery and commissioning, LCS 19 will sail to Florida to be homeported in Mayport with sister ships USS Milwaukee (LCS 5), USS Detroit (LCS 7), USS Little Rock (LCS 9), USS Sioux City (LCS 11), USS Wichita (LCS 13), USS Billings (LCS 15) and USS Indianapolis (LCS 17).
Several more Freedom-variant ships are under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine Corp. in Marinette, Wisconsin. The future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) was christened in June and Cooperstown (LCS 23) is the next Freedom-variant ship to be christened in 2020. Additional ships in the production phase include the future USS Marinette (LCS 25), Nantucket (LCS 27) and Beloit (LCS 29), and Cleveland (LCS 31) in the pre-production phase.
LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine and surface warfare missions. The Freedom- and Independence-variant LCSs integrate new technology and capability to affordably support current and future mission capability from deep water to the littorals.
LCS is now the second-largest surface ship class in production. In 2019, three LCSs were delivered to the fleet and three will be delivered in 2020.
- NAVSEA -