The U.S. Navy is set to commission its newest Independence-variant littoral combat ship, USS Montgomery (LCS 8), in a ceremony on Saturday, Sept. 10 in Mobile, Alabama.
Montgomery, designated LCS 8, honors the city of Montgomery, Alabama, and is the second U.S. ship in the navy history to be named in honor of the capital of Alabama.
U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, Alabama’s 1st Congressional District, will deliver the ceremony’s principal address. Mary Sessions, wife of Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama and a Montgomery native, is serving as the ship’s sponsor.
USS Montgomery was built at Austal’s Mobile, Alabama shipyard. LCS 8 was launched in August and christened in November 2014. On May 16, 2016, it was announced the Montgomery completed acceptance trials and was ready for delivery to the U.S. Navy.
The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant – designed and built by two industry teams. The Freedom variant team is led by Lockheed Martin (for the odd-numbered hulls, e.g. LCS 1) while the Independence variant team is led by Austal USA (for LCS 6 and the subsequent even-numbered hulls).