US, Tallahassee: The USS Nantucket was officially accepted by Lockheed Martin at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, following successful Acceptance Trials in December 2023. It is scheduled for commissioning later this year and will be homeported in Mayport, Florida.

The Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) class features fast, efficiently manned, mission-specific surface combatants designed to operate effectively in both near-shore and open-ocean environments to address contemporary coastal threats.

Captain Matthew Lehmann, program manager of the Littoral Combat Ship program office, praised the future USS Nantucket as a prime example of the strength and endurance of the U.S. maritime industrial base, highlighting the enduring partnership between the Navy and industry.

Named after its Massachusetts namesake, the USS Nantucket honors the rich heritage of the island and its maritime legacy. This vessel is the fourth Navy ship to bear the Nantucket name.

Following the Nantucket, two additional Freedom-variant LCS ships are being constructed at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard. The future USS Beloit (LCS 29) is set to be delivered in the summer of 2024, and the USS Cleveland (LCS 31), the last of the Freedom-variant LCS, is nearing completion alongside Beloit.

The LCS class comes in two versions: Freedom and Independence. These ships are capable of operating independently or in high-threat settings as part of a networked battle force, which includes larger, multi-mission surface combatants.

The LCS class is divided into two variants: Freedom and Independence. The Independence variant, characterized by its trimaran hull, is built by Austal USA (for even-numbered ships), while the monohull Freedom variant is constructed by a team led by Lockheed Martin (for odd-numbered ships).

The Littoral Combat Ship program falls under the Program Executive Office, Unmanned and Small Combatants, which is responsible for designing, developing, building, and delivering the Navy’s unmanned maritime systems, Mine warfare systems, special operations systems, expeditionary combat systems, and small surface combat vessels.