MAYPORT, Fla. –
The newest littoral combat ship, the Freedom-variant USS Indianapolis (LCS 17), arrived at its homeport, Mayport Fla. Nov. 26. after completing its maiden voyage from the shipyard in Marinette, Wis.
Prior to arriving in Mayport, Indianapolis officially joined the fleet Oct. 26 when it commissioned in Burns Harbor, Ind. Indianapolis is the 7th LCS ship to be homeported in Mayport under the leadership of Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two.
“I’m proud to say that the crew did a phenomenal job during Indianapolis’ maiden voyage,” said Cmdr. Colin Kane, commanding officer of Indianapolis. “To get Indianapolis ready, we’ve been away from our families since July. Thankfully we are home in time for the holidays.”
The ship falls under Commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two (COMLCSRON TWO) control until the future LCS Mine Countermeasures Division is established on the East Coast.
This year, the Navy commissioned six LCS, bringing the total to 19 LCS in the fleet. Most recently, the Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Detroit (LCS 7) departed its homeport of Mayport, Florida, for the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility on its maiden deployment, Oct. 31. In addition, USS Montgomery deployed to the Indo-Pacific region. Montgomery completed a mid-deployment crew swap this fall demonstrating the ability to stretch operational time across one ship. LCS operate with two crews enabling increased operational time. The two-crew rotation creates flexibility and increased forward-presence. To optimize the two-crew model, off-ship crews train aboard a training ship.
LCSs are high-speed, agile, shallow-draft, mission-focused surface combatants designed for operations in the littoral environment, yet fully capable of open ocean operations. As part of the surface fleet, LCSs have the ability to counter and outpace evolving threats independently or within a network of surface combatants. Paired with advanced sonar and mine-hunting capabilities, LCSs provide a major contribution, as well as a more diverse set of options to commanders across the spectrum of operations.
LCS will have an offensive punch at range, which then complicates matters for our adversaries. Any potential adversary has to worry about where all our ships are located because of the reach of the weapons systems that we're putting on them.