The US Navy has taken delivery of its 12th Freedom-class littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Cooperstown (LCS 23).
The vessel was given to the Navy at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) shipyard in Marinette, Wisconsin, on 20 September.
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This delivery marked the LCS 23’s official transfer from the shipbuilder to the Navy.
The LCS 23 was designed and delivered by an industry team led by Lockheed Martin.
Cooperstown will now sail to New York for its official commissioning ceremony, followed by its journey to homeport in Mayport, Florida.
PMS 501 LCS programme manager captain Andy Gold said: “Today marks a significant shipbuilding milestone in the life of the future USS Cooperstown, ‘America’s Away Team,’ an exceptional ship and the latest inductee into the Navy’s arsenal conducting operations around the globe.
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By GlobalData“I look forward to seeing Cooperstown step up to the plate with her sister ships in Mayport to bring her slugging capabilities to the Fleet.”
LCS 23 is the first US Navy vessel to be named after Cooperstown, a village in Otsego County, New York.
It is the second Freedom-variant LCS to feature combining gear correction, which allows the ship to undertake unrestricted operations.
Gear correction was implemented to fix a class-wide flaw that was found after the US Navy’s fleet deployed vessels of this class in large numbers.
In addition, the LCS 23 is the fourth ship to be delivered in fiscal 2022 (FY22).
In FY22, the Freedom-variant USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21), Independence-variant Canberra (LCS 30) and Santa Barbara (LCS 32) were delivered.
FMM is expected to deliver the future USS Marinette (LCS 25) early next year.
Other vessels that are currently in different stages of construction include the USS Beloit (LCS 29), Nantucket (LCS 27) and the last Freedom-variant ship Cleveland (LCS 31).
