Posted on 08/02/2021 2:43:44 PM PDT by artichokegrower
The U.S. Navy has decommissioned the 2010-built USS Independence (LCS 2), the first Independence variant Littoral Combat Ship.
The Independence, which was designed to have a service life of 25 years, is being retired early along with the USS Freedom (LCS 1), the first Freedom variant LCS commissioned in 2008, due to budget constraints related to updating its systems to match other ships in the class. Freedom is due to be decommissioned later this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
POS.
And an unnamed (WHY??) sailor arson sabotaged and destroyed the 4 billion dollar Bonhomme Richard...
I think they should retain them. They are undoubtedly cheaper than guided missile frigates; so, they could just use these when they feel an over-powering need to ram into a container ship.
The Littoral Combat Ship Can’t Fight—And The U.S. Navy Is Finally Coming To Terms With It
The U.S. Navy has confirmed it will decommission the first two Littoral Combat Ships, likely beginning what could be a unhappy reckoning with a program that has consumed billions of dollars without delivering much in the way of useful capability.
A year after announcing its desire to get rid of the oldest four LCSs in order to avoid the high cost of upgrading the vessels, the Navy has firmed up its plans for the first two of the troubled, near-shore ships.
The news website of the U.S. Naval Institute was the first to report on the decommissioning plans. USS Independence, the lead vessel in the trimaran subclass, will decommission in July. USS Freedom, the lead monohull LCS, will follow her cousin into retirement in September.
That's a helluva an idea, and one I was going to voice. From the Wikipedia entry for the USS Independence:
The ship is a trimaran design with a wide beam above the waterline that supports a larger flight deck than those of the Navy's much larger destroyers and cruisers, as well as a large hangar and a similarly large mission bay below. The trimaran hull also exhibits low hydrodynamic drag, allowing efficient operation on two diesel powered water jets at speeds up to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), and high speed operation on two gas turbine powered water jets at a sustainable 44 knots (81 km/h; 51 mph) and even faster for short periods....
The flight deck, 1,030 m2 (11,100 sq ft), can support two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, multiple UAVs, or one CH-53 Sea Stallion-class helicopter. The trimaran hull will allow flight operations up to sea state 5.[12]
Sounds perfect for coastal protection and Search and Rescue operations.
Use em for crab fishing boats.
Drop some depth charges and pick up all the crabs on the surface.
Some guy cutting into your favorite spot?
Hit him with a missile.
That is a good idea. Coast Guard, probably doesn’t want it though.
Elon Musk’s fast iteration development is going to kill these “industrial-military complex” companies.
If Musk pulls off this half orbit “suicide” test, anyone spending money the old way will be tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail. All the competing big rocket plans will be shut down.
The theme will be repeated throughout the military contractors.
Stay tuned for the big show this September, or October.
Obviously you have no idea how government procurement programs work. #graft&corruption
Navy gave the Coast Guard its Cyclone Class Patrol Boats but then took them back
Cyclone Class Coastal Patrol Ship - PC
Builder: Bollinger Shipyards, Inc.
Service: USCG Propulsion: 4x Paxman diesel engines, four shafts Armament: Two MK 38 25mm machine guns; four .50 caliber machine guns; two MK 19 40mm automatic grenade launchers; two M-60 machine guns Speed: 35 knots Crew: Four officers, 24 enlisted personnel.
The primary mission of these ships is coastal patrol and interdiction surveillance, an important aspect of littoral operations outlined in the Navy’s maritime strategy. The Cyclone-class PCs are particularly suited for the maritime homeland security mission and have been employed jointly with the U.S. Coast Guard to help protect the U.S. coastline, ports and waterways from terrorist attack; in addition, the ships have been forward deployed to the Gulf region in support of the war on terrorism.
https://www.military.com/equipment/cyclone-class-coastal-patrol-ship-pc
Sounds like some rich guy could convert that into one heck of a Yacht.
I was in the Navy NROTC at the time of the awarding of the contracts of these ships. I supposed they believe we would them in the Persian Gulf. The Navy Instructor taught us to understand switching from a Blue Water Navy to a Green Water Navy. But these ships never made any sense. Especially their maintenance plan with such a small crew.
A waste of time, money and resources that could have been used to build badly needed frigates.
Unless, as it appears to be, the names "Freedom" and "Independence" are anathema to the "woke" and "cancel culture" crowd. The Coast Guard cutter I served on board in the 1960's was preserved in Baltimore Harbor. However, its name "Taney" and references to it were stripped from the ship in 2020 by the CC crowd irrespective of the ship's heroic service during WW-II and tireless completion of Coast Guard missions until decommissioning in 1986.
Roger B. Taney’s name removed from historic Pearl Harbor ship in Baltimore (Cancel culture comes for ship on which I proudly served)
Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney was an author of the "Dred Scott" decision which said that African Americans, slave or free, could never be citizens of the US. This was years after Taney's service as Secretary of the Treasury whose position there was the reason for naming the ship in the mid-1930's.
The Navy is retaining some of them... just not the 2 lead ships because the mission modules planned were cancelled. The latter LCS’s are more traditionally equipped for a more narrow set of capabilities.
I still think they (particularly the Independence class) could have a role with the Coast Guard. The pop gun is big enough for most Coast Guard needs, and they have a nice helicopter platform. There never was a good naval role for them.
So USS Dependence and USS Fiefdom aren't renaming options?
Protected enemy (Muslim, Chinese or both?)
...or maybe the Navy brass hasn’t yet figured out who they’re going to blame things on.
In the Navy the LCS was said to stand for “Little Crappy Ship”. They’re too small and not capable of doing much. The Navy didn’t really want them and the sailors hate them.
Maybe the sailor who set the fire was Amish?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.