Navy set to commission fourth Littoral Combat Ship

WASHINGTON, April 3 (UPI) -- The U.S. Navy’s fourth Littoral Combat Ship, the future USS Coronado, is being commissioned on Saturday in California, the Navy announced.

The ship, built by Austal USA Shipbuilding in Mobile, Ala., is the fourth Navy LCS and the second of the Independence, trimaran-hull, variant.

“When she sets sail for distant shores, Coronado, and ships like her, will have a vital role maintaining freedom of the seas, and providing naval presence in the right place, all the time,” said Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus.

Littoral Combat Ships are for use in close-to-shore waters. They can carry a small assault force with their vehicles as well as cargo and feature a landing deck for helicopters. They are also capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats.

The Future USS Coronado weighs 2,790 tons. It is 417 feet long, 100 feet in the beam and has a navigational draft of 15 feet. It has a speed of more than 40 knots through the use of two gas turbines and two diesel engines that power its steerable water jets.

Its defense weapons packages, which can be rapidly reconfigured, are for mine counter-measures, surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare.

The commissioning ceremony will take place at Naval Air Station, North Island in Coronado, Calif.