US littoral combat ship Marinette launched

On 31 October 2020, Fincantieri Marine Group launched the US Navy’s future littoral combat ship USS Marinette (LCS 25) into the Menominee River.

Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the ceremonial christening has been postponed to the spring of 2021.

LCS 25 will be the first US Navy ship to bear the name Marinette, and is named to recognize the town’s significant contributions to navy shipbuilding.

In addition, Marinette will be the 13th Freedom-variant LCS and will join a class of more than 30 ships.

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 and the Independence variant is led by Austal USA.

The LCS are flexible, with 40 percent of the hull reconfigurable, standard equipped with Rolling Airframe Missiles (RAM) and a Mark 110 gun. With a displacement of 3,450 metric tons, Freedom-variant ships have a length of 118.1 meters, a beam of 17.6 meters and can reach a speed greater than 40 knots.