The Navy accepted delivery of Independence-class littoral combat ship Gabrielle Giffords (LCS-10) from shipbuilder Mobile Ala. Austal USA during a Friday ceremony, the service announced.
The ship is the fifth Independence-class LCS and is set to commission into the fleet next year in Galveston, Texas and will be homeported in San Diego.
“We are pleased to receive the future USS Gabrielle Giffords into the LCS class,” said Capt. Harrison, commander, LCS Squadron One (COMLCSRON ONE) in a statement. “Gabrielle Giffords will join her sister littoral combat ships in their homeport of San Diego in 2017, commencing testing and training for deployed operations upon arrival.”
Delivery of Giffords – named for a former member of Congress from Arizona who was injured in a 2011 shooting in Tucson – follows a series of acceptance trails which were completed in November.
“Following commissioning, Gabrielle Giffords will be homeported in San Diego with her fellow ships USS Freedom (LCS-1), USS Independence (LCS 2), USS Fort Worth (LCS-3), USS Coronado (LCS-4), USS Jackson (LCS-6) and USS Montgomery (LCS-8),” read a Friday statement from Naval Sea Systems Command.
Austal USA is currently constructing the next ships in the class Omaha (LCS-12) and Manchester (LCS-14), which are preparing for builders trials in 2017. Tulsa (LCS-16) is scheduled to be christened in early 2017. Charleston (LCS-18), Cincinnati (LCS-20), Kansas City (LCS-22), Oakland (LCS-24) and Mobile (LCS-26) are in various stages of completion at the yard.
