Mayport will be home for new LCS ships...

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

Jacksonville base could have 17 combat ships by 2020.

 

 

WHAT’S AN LCS?

The littoral combat ship is a new Navy combatant, designed to go fast and operate in shallow, near-shore waters. The ship differs in two major ways than most other war ships: Rather than relying on a large number of personnel, the ship combines a more experienced crew with a great deal of technology and automation. Second, the vessel is designed to handle three missions — fighting submarines, finding mines and waging surface warfare — with specialized modules for each type of mission being swapped on and off the ship.

 

The Navy has had two version of the littoral combat ship built and plans to decide later this year which variant it will commit to. The first ship, the USS Freedom, deployed last month from Mayport. The second ship, the USS Independence, will stop by Mayport before deploying late this month or early next month.

 

Mayport Naval Station will be the primary homeport on the East Coast for the Navy’s newest class of ships, the service’s highest ranking officer said Wednesday, meaning the base would not suffer the personnel losses expected as its older ships are retired.

By 2020, Mayport could be home to 17 littoral combat ships, with the first one arriving six years from now.

By the time it arrives, the base is slated to have lost the 13 frigates that make up the bulk of its fleet, shedding thousands of sailors in the process.

Adm. Gary Roughead, the chief of Naval Operations, discussed the LCS homeporting decision during an appearance before a House military construction subcommittee in Washington.

“They’re recognizing how strategic Mayport is,” said U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw, R-Fla., a committee member. “I think the long-range future of Mayport is bright.”

It’s unclear exactly how many sailors the new ships would bring to the base: Although littoral combat ships only have about 40 full-time crew members — compared to about 200 on a frigate — each vessel is expected to have multiple crews assigned them, with some personnel afloat while the rest are training.

In addition, the small crew size means that some tasks typically handled aboard a ship — from ordering supplies to taking care of paperwork — are done by personnel on land.

The shore command would also be bolstered by the people needed for training operations, particularly important because the ship is designed to switch between different mission requirements.

Overall, that could mean more personnel ashore and active in the local economy than is the case now.

“It’s going to be a big deal,” said John Meserve, a former commanding officer of the base. “We’ve been thinking that these are the perfect fit for this coast forever.”

Roughead alluded to that fit as well, telling the subcommittee that “this ship is optimized for operations in areas like the Southern Command” — the Caribbean and the waters around South America.

That area is rife with the shallow, littoral waters the ship is designed to operate in and heavy with drug runners the speedy ship hopes to chase down.

The USS Freedom, the Navy’s first littoral combat ship, left for its initial deployment to that area in mid-February and seized a quarter-ton of cocaine a week later.

The Navy said Wednesday evening the Freedom had stopped another go-fast vessel, this one carrying 1½ tons of cocaine.

“The value of the speed of the ship has been validated,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Servello, a Navy spokesman. “The deployment is going very well.”

The second littoral combat ship, the USS Independence, is expected to have its crack at Caribbean drug smugglers toward the end of the month.

Coming on the heels of the Navy’s decision to base a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Mayport, the homeporting announcement is seen as a blow to Norfolk, where the bulk of naval assets on the East Coast reside.

“They didn’t want to talk about it until they were pretty confident about the carrier decision,” said retired Rear Adm. Fred Metz, a Virginia resident.

Metz has argued that the Navy has not addressed the full cost of moving a carrier here but has said that basing littoral combat ships at Mayport makes sense.

Discussing the LCS homeporting, he said Wednesday, was a way of gauging the reaction in Virginia.

“I think this is a trial balloon to see if anybody here is going to fight about it,” he said.

If they are, they’ll have plenty of time.

The LCS program has had its share of delays, with the Navy scrapping its procurement process and started over earlier this year.

Current plans are for the Navy to buy another ship like the Freedom this year, plus a second copy of the Independence. Later this year, the Navy plans to commit to one version and then build about 15 copies of it through 2014. Eventually, the Navy says it wants 55 of the vessels.

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[Arwen]

The last I heard, the Navy made the decision that - at least for now - the Freedom and the Independence will be homeported in San Diego, after they complete their advanced testing phases.

Also, while they have a crew of 40 (or 41, depending on your source) the ships reportedly will have blue and gold crews, like a boomer submarine.

Very cool ships. My son dreams of getting the Independence. Or maybe he can get her sister-ship, the Coronado, in new construction? My husband is a plankowner, it would be very cool if my son could do the same.