The US Navy’s second Constellation class guided-missile frigate has been named USS Congress (FFG 63), revealed US Secretary of the Navy Kenneth Braithwaite.

The announcement was made amid the hearing on Navy and Marine Corps Readiness with the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support on Capitol Hill.

Braithwaite said: “To honour and recognise the work [Congress] and your staff do every day to support our sailors and marines, I take pleasure in announcing that a future frigate will carry the name Congress.

“The department of the navy looks to you for the strong oversight and partnership that has enabled our maritime strength ever since Congress authorized the construction of our first six ships, the mighty American frigates of 1794.”

Congress was among the few original frigates that received authorisation from the Congress in the Naval Act of 1794.

Two vessels of the US Navy were named ‘Congress’ during the American Revolution. The first vessel was a row galley that was a part of the Continental Navy, while the second was a 28-gun frigate.

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The third vessel was launched in 1799 and was a 38-gun wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate. Launched in 1841, a 52-gun frigate was the fourth to be named Congress.

The fifth USS Congress was a screw sloop that was launched in 1868, while the sixth was a private fishing vessel that was later commissioned during the Second World War as a patrol vessel.

In October, the US Navy named the first ship in the new guided-missile frigate (FFG(X)) class as USS Constellation (FFG 62).

Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) was selected by the US Navy for the construction of the new Constellation (FFG-62) Class of guided-missile frigates. The contract includes the construction of up to ten vessels.

FMM selected The Timken Company to provide the main reduction gears for the new frigates.