Future USS Milwaukee completes final acceptance testing

MARINETTE, Wis., Sept. 23 (UPI) -- A new Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship of the U.S. Navy, the future USS Milwaukee, has completed its final acceptance trial.

The five days of in-port and underway evaluations of installed systems were conducted for the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey prior to delivery of the ship in October.

"What a ride," said LCS program manager Capt. Tom Anderson. "The weather on Lake Michigan during the conduct of this trial was not pleasant. Despite the high sea state, Milwaukee crisply executed the schedule of events and received some of the highest demonstration scores to date for the LCS class."

While underway, the ship performed launch and recovery operations of inflatable boats, power runs, surface and air self-defense exercises, and demonstrated its maneuverability.

The future USS Milwaukee, built by Marinette Marine, is 378 feet long, has a speed of 45 knots and has a range of 3,500 nautical miles at a speed of 18 knots.

It is a modular, reconfigurable ship, with three types of mission packages, including surface warfare, mine counter-measures, and anti-submarine warfare.

The ship is scheduled for in November and later homeported in San Diego, Calif.