U.S. Navy accepts 9th littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords

MOBILE, Ala., Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy formally accepted the future USS Gabrielle Giffords into its fleet, marking the final milestone for the vessel prior to commissioning.

The acceptance of the branch's ninth littoral combat ship took place during a ceremony on Dec. 23, and follows the completion of acceptance trials in November. Gabrielle Giffords is the fifth Independence-class ship to join the Navy.

"We are pleased to receive the future USS Gabrielle Giffords into the LCS class," LCS Squadron One commander Capt. Harrison said in a press release. "Gabrielle Giffords will join her sister littoral combat ships in their homeport of San Diego in 2017, commencing testing and training for deployed operations upon arrival."

The vessel, designated LCS-10, was manufactured by Austal USA, the company tasked with the production of all the Navy's Independence-class littoral combat ships alongside General Dynamics. The Navy plans to commission the ship in 2017.

Littoral combat ships are designed for both offensive and defensive maneuvers as well as to project naval power off-shore. The Independence-class is one of two LCS variants procured by the branch in addition to the Freedom-class built by Lockheed Martin.

USS Gabrielle Giffords takes its namesake from former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., who survived an assassination attempt by a gunman in 2011. Six people were killed during the attack.