LCS leaves shipyard for commissioning

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MARINETTE, Wis., Aug. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy's third Littoral Combat Ship is on its way to Texas for commissioning and eventual homeporting in San Diego.

The future USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), which departed the Marinette Marine Corp. shipyard in Wisconsin this week, is the second LCS of the steel, semi-planing, mono-hull Freedom variant.

"The ship's builders and crew have done an exceptional job preparing Fort Worth for sail-away," said Rear Adm. James Murdoch, program executive officer for Littoral Combat Ships. "This ship is incredibly well built and will provide a tremendous capability to the fleet."

The Navy said a number of design changes -- based on lessons learned from the first ship of class -- were on LCS 3 and will now be part of the baseline design for future Freedom class ships.

The Littoral Combat Ship is an agile, shallow-draft, vessel designed for operations in near-shore environments. They are outfitted with reconfigurable payloads for mine counter-measures, surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare.