USS Charleston (LCS-18)

USS Charleston on 18 July 2018
History
United States
Name	Charleston
Namesake	Charleston
Awarded	29 December 2010[1]
Builder	Austal USA[1]
Laid down	28 June 2016[1][4]
Launched	14 September 2017[1]
Sponsored by	Bradley Byrne and Charlotte Riley
Christened	26 August 2017[5]
Acquired	31 August 2018[2]
Commissioned	2 March 2019[3]
Homeport	San Diego
Identification	MMSI number: 368926271 Hull number: LCS-18
Motto	While We Breathe, We Fight
Status	Active
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Independence-class littoral combat ship
Displacement	2,307 metric tons light, 3,104 metric tons full, 797 metric tons deadweight
Length	127.4 m (418 ft)
Beam	31.6 m (104 ft)
Draft	14 ft (4.27 m)
Propulsion	2× gas turbines, 2× diesel, 4× waterjets, retractable Azimuth thruster, 4× diesel generators
Speed	40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph)+, 47 knots (54 mph; 87 km/h) sprint
Range	4,300 nautical miles (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)+
Capacity	210 tonnes
Complement	40 core crew (8 officers, 32 enlisted) plus up to 35 mission crew
Sensors and processing systems	Sea Giraffe 3D Surface/Air RADAR Bridgemaster-E Navigational RADAR AN/KAX-2 EO/IR sensor for GFC
Electronic warfare & decoys	EDO ES-3601 ESM 4× SRBOC rapid bloom chaff launchers
Armament	BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun 4× .50 cal (12.7 mm) guns (2 aft, 2 forward) Evolved SeaRAM 11 cell missile launcher Mission modules
Aircraft carried	2× MH-60R/S Seahawks

USS Charleston (LCS-18) is an Independence-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. She is the sixth ship to be named for Charleston, the oldest and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina.^[6]