USS Freedom (LCS-1)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Freedom.
"LCS-1" redirects here. For the spherical satellite used for calibration, see Lincoln Calibration Sphere 1.

USS Freedom in her new Measure 32 camouflage scheme on sea trials in February 2013, before her first deployment
History
United States
NameFreedom
OrderedMay 2004
Awarded15 December 2004
BuilderMarinette Marine
Laid down2 June 2005
Launched23 September 2006
Commissioned8 November 2008
Decommissioned29 September 2021
HomeportSan Diego
Identification
MottoFast, Focused, Fearless
StatusDecommissioned, in reserve
Badge
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeFreedom-class littoral combat ship
Displacement3,400 long tons (3,450 t) (full load)
Length
  • 387.6 ft (118.1 m) LOA
  • 351 ft (107 m) LWL
Beam57.7 ft (17.6 m)
Draft14.1 ft (4.3 m)
Installed power
Propulsion4 × Rolls-Royce waterjets
Speed47 knots (87 km/h; 54 mph) (sea state 3)[2]
Range3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Endurance21 days (336 hours)
Boats & landing
craft carried
Complement50 core crew, 98 or more with mission package and air detachment crew (Blue and Gold crews)
Sensors and
processing systems
  • EADS TRS-3D 3D air and surface search radar[3]
  • Lockheed Martin COMBATSS-21 combat management system[3]
  • AN/SQR-20 Multi-Function Towed Array (As part of ASW mission module)[4]
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
Aircraft carried
Aviation facilitiesHangar bay

USS Freedom (LCS-1) is the lead ship of the Freedom-class littoral combat ship for the United States Navy. She is the third vessel to be so named after the concept of freedom. She is the design competitor produced by the Lockheed Martin consortium, in competition with the General Dynamics–designed USS Independence. She was officially accepted by the Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast, on behalf of the US Navy, from the Lockheed Martin/Marinette Marine/Gibbs and Cox team, in Marinette, Wisconsin, on 18 September 2008.[5]

She is designed for a variety of missions in shallow waters, minesweeping and humanitarian relief, capable against submarines and small ships, but not designed to take on large warships. The ship is a semi-planing monohull design capable of over 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph).[6]

Commissioned in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on 8 November 2008, Freedom was home-ported in San Diego,[3] and assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One.[7]

On 20 June 2020, the US Navy announced that they would be taking Freedom out of commission in March 2021, and placing her, along with Independence, Fort Worth, and Coronado in reserve.[8][9] She was decommissioned on 29 September 2021.[10][11]

  1. ^ "LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP CLASS - LCS". America's Navy. US Navy. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 3 May 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  2. ^ Ewing, Philip (19 May 2009). "Refueling tops list of LCS crew challenges". Navy Times. Retrieved 30 May 2015. (subscription required)
  3. ^ a b c d e "Freedom (LCS 1)". Navsource. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  4. ^ "AN/SQR-20". Deagel.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Navy Accepts Delivery of Future USS Freedom". Navy.mil. 18 September 2008. Archived from the original on 29 June 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  6. ^ "The US Navy – Fact File: Littoral Combat Ship Class – LCS". Navy.mil. 9 January 2015. Archived from the original on 2 March 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  7. ^ "LCS Squadron 1". public.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  8. ^ Trevithick, Joseph (1 July 2020). "Navy Will Mothball Its First Four Littoral Combat Ships In Nine Months If Congress Lets It". thedrive.com. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  9. ^ Larter, David B. (1 July 2020). "US Navy's first 4 littoral combat ships to leave the fleet in 9 months". DefenseNews.com. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  10. ^ Burgess, Richard R. (17 February 2021). "Navy Details Revised 2021 Ship Decommissioning Schedule". Seapower. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  11. ^ "USS Freedom (LCS 1) Decommissions". Defense Visual Information Distribution Service. San Diego, CA. 29 September 2021. Archived from the original on 30 September 2021. Retrieved 29 September 2021.