Navy commissions littoral combat ship USS Oakland

April 19 (UPI) -- The USS Oakland, the Navy's newest littoral combat ship, was formally commissioned in a weekend ceremony, as the first LCS ships face retirement.

The Oakland, an Independence-class trimaran 418 feetlong and designed to carry a crew of 40 in shallow water and ocean-going situations, officially joined the Navy fleet in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday.

The ceremony included military veterans, U.S. Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Sean Buck, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker.

A socially-distanced audience watched from parked cars and through a livestreamed broadcast.

"We now have a finished warship behind us that is ready to be placed into commission," said Harker at the ceremony. "This ship is a marvel of engineering, which will extend our capabilities for any mission across the blue water, from shoreline to shoreline."

The USS Oakland, the third ship in the Navy's history to carry the city's name, was constructed by Austral USA in Alabama and will be homeported at Naval Base San Diego.

With a top speed of 46 knots, or 40 mph, the class of ships offers adaptability to various circumstances with lower cost and a smaller crew than other vessels.

A Mk 110 57 mm gun, a Raytheon SeaRAM anti-missile defense system and Naval Strike and Hellfire vertical launch missiles are standard armaments of Independence-class LCS ships, and up to 30 additional sailors can be accommodated for specific missions.

The commissioning of the USS Oakland comes after the Navy's first LCS, the USS Freedom, completed its final deployment last week.

In July 2020, the Navy announced it would retire the ship, along with the USS Independence, USS Fort Worth and USS Coronado, in 2021 to save on modernization efforts.

The vessels were the service's first four littoral combat ships, beginning in 2014.