WASHINGTON, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Department of Defense said in a Sept. 20 press release that on Sept. 23 the U.S. Navy will christen the USS Freedom, its first littoral combat ship, or LCS.
The ceremony will be held at Marinette Marine Corp. in Marinette, Wis., which built the vessel.
The DOD stated that the 378-foot LCS USS Freedom is named in honor of American communities named Freedom, including communities in California, Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Wyoming. USS Freedom is the first U.S. Navy ship to carry the LCS class designation.
USS Freedom is designed for the launch and recovery of manned and unmanned vehicles.
According to DOD personnel, the USS Freedom's advanced modular design will allow it to support various missions, including anti-submarine warfare, mine warfare or surface warfare missions, with the ship's design allowing it to be reconfigured for differing missions pier side in a matter of hours.
