USS Freedom (LCS-1)

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. It is the design competitor produced by the Lockheed Martin consortium, in competition with the General Dynamics-designed USS "Independence".

It is designed for a variety of missions in shallow waters, capable against submarines and ships, as well as minesweeping and humanitarian relief. The ship is a semi-planing monohull design capable of over convert|45|kn, and will probably be delivered to the US Navy in early 2009.

Design

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

The ship is a semi-planing monohull convert|377|ft|m|0 in length, displaces 3,000 tonnes and can go faster than convert|45|kn|mph 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. [ [http://peoships.crane.navy.mil/lcs/ US Navy LCS website] ]

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. [cite web|url=http://www.lockheedmartin.com/news/press_releases/2007/101107_LCSDEMONSTRATESKEYMISSIONPACKAGE.html | title=Nation’s First Littoral Combat Ship Demonstrates Key Mission Package Launch And Recovery System | publisher = Lockheed Martin | date=2007-10-11 Good photo of stern door] 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.

History

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."Portions of this article are based on various press releases." (cite specific releases)] cite web | url = http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/31385-1.html | first = Dawn | last = Onley | title = Lockheed Martin to build advanced Navy ship | publisher = Government Computer News | accessmonthday = September 23 | accessyear = 2006] 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,cite web | url = http://www.military.com/features/0,15240,114781,00.html?ESRC=dod-bz.nl | title = First Littoral Combat Ship Christened | publisher = Navy News | accessmonthday = September 28 | accessyear = 2006] ,was delivered to the Navy on 18 September 2008, and is expected to be commissioned on 8 November. [cite web |title= Lockheed Martin Team Delivers Nation's First Littoral Combat Ship to U.S. Navy |url= http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080918/neth118.html?.v=2 |accessdate= 2008-09-20] The USS "Freedom" will be commissioned in Milwaukee and home-ported in San Diego, California.

Cost overruns during "Freedom"'s construction combined with projected future overruns led the government to issue a "Stop-work" in January 2007 and ultimately led to the cancellation of construction of LCS-3 (the second Lockheed Martin ship) on April 13, 2007. [ [http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/cost-growth-leads-to-stopwork-on-team-lockheed-lcs3-construction-updated-02957?ref=/ Cost Growth Leads To Stop-Work On Team Lockheed LCS-3 Construction] ] 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. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/us/25ship.html?ref=washington/ Lesson on How Not to Build a Navy Ship] ]

See also

* Milgem
* Future Surface Combatant - a similar British design

References

External links

* [http://www.flickr.com/photos/lockheedmartin/sets/72157606438408274/ USS "Freedom" photostream] by Lockheed Martin at Flickr
* [http://www.navy.mil/palib/cno/speeches/clark050602.txt CNO's Speech at Keel Laying Ceremony]
* [http://www.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=18629 Official Navy News Article About Keel Laying]
* [http://peoships.crane.navy.mil/lcs/ USN Littoral Combat Ship Web Site]
* [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/navy/lcs-1.htm Global Security website article and images from September 2006 christening ceremony]
* [http://www.lmlcsteam.com/video/LCS-christening.wmv Lockheed Martin USS Freedom Launch Video]