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LCS-18 Charleston

The Navy commissioned its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS), the future USS Charleston (LCS 18), during a 10 a.m. ceremony Saturday, 02 March 2019, at Columbus Street Terminal in Charleston, South Carolina.

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina will deliver the commissioning ceremony's principal address. Charlotte Riley, wife of former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, is the ship's sponsor. The ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when Mrs. Riley gives the first order to "man our ship and bring her to life!"

"The future USS Charleston is proof of what the teamwork of all of our people – civilian, contractor and military – can accomplish together," said Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer. "This ship will extend the maneuverability and lethality of our fleet to confront the many challenges of a complex world, from maintaining the sea lanes to countering instability to maintaining our edge against renewed great power competition."

Austal celebrated an early major construction milestone for the future USS Charleston (LCS 18) on 28 June 2016, with a keel-laying ceremony. This is the seventh Independence-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) built at Austal under the 11-ship contract worth over $3.5 billion. U.S. Congressman Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.) authenticated the keel by welding his initials onto an aluminum plate that was placed in the hull of the ship. He was assisted by Mr. Fermin Peralta-Valerio, an A-class welder at Austal and member of our shipbuilding team since 2014.

This will be the 6th Navy ship named after the city of Charleston where, according to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus – who named the ship – “there is a long history, from the decades of work at the Charleston Naval Shipyard to Charleston Marine Container Inc. building mission modules for the Littoral Combat Ship program today.” “Today marks another major milestone,” Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle said. “The momentum Austal’s talented shipbuilding team is generating shows the continuing maturity of our LCS program.”

Austal has delivered four Independence-variant LCS to the Navy and six additional LCS are under construction at the Mobile, Ala. shipyard. Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) is preparing for trials later this year. Omaha (LCS 12) and Manchester (LCS 14) are also in the water making preparations for trials and delivery. Tulsa (LCS 16) will complete final assembly and prepare for launch later in 2016. The first aluminium was recently cut for Cincinnati (LCS 20) and the shipbuilders have begun construction on LCS 20 modules in Austal’s module manufacturing facility.

Austal is also building 10 Expeditionary Fast Transports (EPF) for the U.S. Navy under a $1.6 billion block-buy contract. Seven EPFs have been delivered to the Navy and three more are under construction at Austal.

Charleston Marine Containers builds vital parts for modules that go in Littoral Combat Ships. And during the Civil War, this harbor was a scene of numerous naval battles, including the attack of the CSS Hunley and the USS Housatonic, the world’s first successful submarine attack that sunk a ship. Across on the other side of the harbor, which you can see from here, Patriots Point and the Yorktown, Laffey, and Cragmore. This city continues to honor its Sailors and Marines of yesterday and today. The name USS Charleston also has a long and distinguished history. The first USS Charleston was 1791. She patrolled the coast of South Carolina against French privateers during the Quasi-War. Since that time, there’ve been three more. They fought in the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II. They patrolled the oceans from the period between the Civil War and the Spanish-American War to the height of the Cold War.