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U.S. Navy Christened Austal-Built Littoral Combat Ship USS Omaha (LCS 12)

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Naval Forces News - USA
 
 
 
U.S. Navy Christened Austal-Built Littoral Combat Ship USS Omaha (LCS 12)
 
The US Navy christened its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship, USS Omaha (LCS 12), during a ceremony held Saturday, Dec. 19 in Mobile, Alabama. Omaha, designated LCS 12, honors the city of Omaha, Nebraska.

The Honorable Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy, served as principal speaker. Susie Buffett, an Omaha philanthropist and daughter of Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., served as the ship’s sponsor. In a time-honored Navy tradition, she gave the order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”
     
MOBILE, Ala. (Dec. 19, 2015) Susan A. Buffett, ship's sponsor for the littoral combat ship Pre-Commissioning Unit, Omaha (LCS 12), breaks a bottle across the ship's bow during a christening ceremony at Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael C. Barton/Released) MOBILE, Ala. (Dec. 19, 2015) Susan A. Buffett, ship's sponsor for the littoral combat ship Pre-Commissioning Unit, Omaha (LCS 12), breaks a bottle across the ship's bow during a christening ceremony at Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Michael C. Barton/Released)
     
"More than 4,000 American craftsmen have made this ship possible, craftsmen from Mobile and all around the country, making components of the ship and its systems,” said Mabus. “That partnership between our uniformed men and women, our Navy civilians, industry, and the American people, is one of the great strengths of our system. Bearing the name Omaha, this ship will represent the American spirit of hard work and patriotism that is ingrained in that community. The future USS Omaha will carry these values, and this spirit, around the world.”

LCS 12 is the fourth U.S. Navy ship named for the largest city in Nebraska. The first was a screw sloop commissioned Sept. 12, 1872.

The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant - designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered hulls, e.g. LCS 1). The Independence variant team is led by Austal USA (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls) and was originally led by General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works (LCS 2 and LCS 4).

The LCS seaframes will be outfitted with reconfigurable payloads, called mission modules (made up of mission systems and support equipment), which can be changed quickly. These modules combine with crew detachments and aviation assets to become complete mission packages, which will deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors in support of mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, or surface warfare missions.

Link to Independence class LCS technical datasheet