USS Nantucket after launch.
History
United States
NameNantucket
NamesakeNantucket
Awarded6 October 2017[2]
BuilderMarinette Marine[2]
Laid down9 October 2019[3]
Launched7 August 2021[1]
Sponsored byPolly Spencer
Christened7 August 2021
IdentificationHull number: LCS-27
Motto
  • Dominae griseae maris
  • (Grey Lady of the Sea)[4]
StatusOn order
Badge
General characteristics
Class and typeFreedom-class littoral combat ship
Length378 ft (115 m)
Speed>40 knots (46 mph; 74 km/h)

USS Nantucket (LCS-27) will be a Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy.[2][5] She will be the third commissioned ship in naval service named after Nantucket.[5]

Marinette Marine was awarded the contract to build the ship on 6 October 2017.[2]

Design

In 2002, the US Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.[6] The Navy initially ordered two monohull ships from Lockheed Martin, which became known as the Freedom-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class, USS Freedom.[6][7] Odd-numbered U.S. Navy littoral combat ships are built using the Freedom-class monohull design, while even-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the trimaran hull Independence-class littoral combat ship from General Dynamics.[6] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Freedom-class design.[6]  Nantucket will be the fourteenth Freedom-class littoral combat ship to be built.

Construction and career

The ship was christened on 7 August 2021 and launched into the Menominee River.[8] Her sponsor was Polly Spencer, wife of Richard V. Spencer, former Secretary of the Navy.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Littoral Combat Ship 27 (USS Nantucket) Christened And Launched" (Press release). Lockheed Martin. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d "Nantucket (LCS-27)". Naval Vessel Register. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  3. ^ "Lockheed Martin-Led Team Begins Construction On Navy's Littoral Combat Ship, The Future USS Nantucket" (Press release). Lockheed Martin. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  4. ^ "USS Nantucket (LCS 27)". The Institute of Heraldry. U.S. Army. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b "Secretary of the Navy Names Two Littoral Combat Ships" (Press release). U.S. Navy. 13 February 2018. NNS180213-13. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d "US Navy Fact File: Littoral Combat Ship Class – LCS". US Navy. Archived from the original on 2 March 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  7. ^ O'Rourke, Ronald (4 May 2010). "Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Program: Background, Issues, and Options for Congress" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Future USS Nantucket christened at Marinette Marine". wbay.com. 9 August 2021. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  9. ^ Anderson, Travis (14 August 2021). "USS Nantucket is ready for action". Boston Globe. pp. B3.
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