USS Independence (LCS-2) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

USS Independence (LCS-2) is the lead ship

Lead ship

The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...

for the Independence class

Independence class littoral combat ship

The Independence class is a class of littoral combat ships built for the United States Navy.The hull design evolved from a project at Austal to design a 40 knot cruise ship...

of littoral combat ship

Littoral combat ship

A Littoral Combat Ship is a type of relatively small surface vessel intended for operations in the littoral zone . It is "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals." Two ship classes are the first...

s. She will be the sixth ship of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

to be named for the concept of independence

Independence

Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....

. The design was produced by the General Dynamics

General Dynamics

General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...

consortium for the Navy's LCS program, and competes with the Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....

-designed Freedom class

Freedom class littoral combat ship

The Freedom class is a class of littoral combat ships built for the United States Navy.The Freedom class was proposed by Lockheed Martin as a contender for USN plans to build a fleet of small, multipurpose warships to operate in the littoral zone...

.

Independence is intended as a small assault transport that can take on various capabilities with the installation of mission modules. The ship is a trimaran

Trimaran

A trimaran is a multihulled boat consisting of a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls , attached to the main hull with lateral struts...

design that can make more than 40 knots (21.8 m/s), and was delivered to the Navy at the end of 2009.

Description

The design for Independence (LCS 2) is based on a high-speed trimaran (Benchijigua Express
Benchijigua Express
Benchijigua Express is a fast ferry, operated by shipping company Fred. Olsen S.A. between the Canary Islands, Tenerife, La Gomera, El Hierro and La Palma in the Atlantic. It was delivered to Olsen in April 2005...

) hull built by Austal

Austal

Austal is an Australian company that specializes in the design and construction of aluminium vessels. Its main products include passenger and freight ferries, luxury yachts and military vessels....

(Henderson, Australia). The 418-foot (127-meter) surface combatant design requires a crew of 40 sailors. Although the trimaran hull increases the total surface area, it is still able to reach sustainable speeds of about 50 kn (60.9 mph; 98 km/h) with a range of 10000 nautical miles (18,520 km).

With 11,000 cubic meters of payload volume, it was designed with enough payload and volume to carry out one mission with a separate mission module in reserve, allowing the ship to do multiple missions without having to be refitted. The flight deck, 1030 m² (11,086.8 sq ft), can support the operation of two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, multiple UAVs, or one CH-53 Sea Stallion-class helicopter. The trimaran hull will allow flight operations up to sea state

Sea state

In oceanography, a sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the wave height, period, and power spectrum. The sea state varies with...

5.

The Independence carries a default armament for self-defense, and command and control. However unlike traditional fighting ships with fixed armament such as guns and missiles, tailored mission modules can be configured for one mission package at a time. Modules may consist of manned aircraft, unmanned vehicles, off-board sensors, or mission-manning detachments.

The interior volume and payload is greater than some destroyers and is sufficient to serve as a high-speed transport and maneuver platform. The mission bay is 15200 square feet (1,412.1 m²), and takes up most of the deck below the hangar and flight deck.

In addition to cargo or container-sized mission modules, the bay can carry four lanes of multiple Strykers, armored Humvees, and their associated troops. An elevator allows air transport of packages the size of a 20 feet (6.1 m) shipping container

Intermodal container

An intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...

that can be moved into the mission bay while at sea. A side access ramp allows for vehicle roll-on/roll-off loading to a dock and allows the ship to transport the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle

Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle

The Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle is an amphibious assault vehicle that was being developed for the U.S. Marine Corps. It is launched at sea, from an amphibious assault ship beyond the horizon, able to transport a full Marine rifle squad to shore...

.

The habitability area is located under the bridge where bunks for ships personnel are situated. The helm is controlled by joysticks instead of traditional steering wheels.

The Independence also has an integrated LOS Mast, Sea Giraffe 3D Radar and SeaStar Safire FLIR. Side and forward surfaces are angled for reduced radar profile. In addition, H-60

H-60

H-60 is often used as a general name for a wide family of U.S. military helicopters. However, they all use a modified mission symbol in addition to the 'H' vehicle type designator under the 1962 United States Tri-Service aircraft designation system . The mission prefix H-60 is often used as a...

series helicopters provide airlift, rescue, anti-submarine, radar picket and anti-ship capabilities with torpedoes and missiles.

The Raytheon Evolved SeaRAM missile defense system is installed on the hangar roof. The SeaRAM combines the sensors of the Phalanx 1B close-in weapon system with an 11-missile launcher for the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM), creating an autonomous system.

Northrop Grumman has demonstrated sensor fusion of on and off-board systems in the Integrated Combat Management System (ICMS) used on Independence.

Independence has an Interior Communications Center that can be curtained off from the rest of bridge instead of the heavily protected Combat Information Center

Combat Information Center

The Operations Room is the tactical center of a warship or AWAC aircraft providing processed information for command and control of the near battle space or 'area of operations'...

found on Navy warships.

Austal claims that the Independence will use a third less fuel than Freedom, but the Congressional Budget Office

Congressional Budget Office

The Congressional Budget Office is a federal agency within the legislative branch of the United States government that provides economic data to Congress....

found that fuel would account for 18 percent or less of the total lifetime cost of Freedom. While it was unable to judge the fuel usage of Independence, the higher purchase price of Independence would dominate its lifetime costs.

History

The contract was awarded to General Dynamics

General Dynamics

in July 2003. The contract to build her was then awarded to Austal USA of Mobile, Alabama, on 14 October 2005 and her keel was laid down on 19 January 2006. Delivery to the United States Navy was scheduled for December 2008.

The originally planned second General Dynamics ship (LCS-4) was canceled on November 1, 2007.
On May 1, 2009, a second vessel was reordered by the Navy, the . The keel was laid on December 17, 2009,
with delivery scheduled for May 2012.

The Navy currently plans a new bidding process with the FY2010 budget between Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics for the next three littoral combat ships, with the winner building two ships and the loser only one. USS Independence was christened October 5, 2008 by Doreen Scott, wife of 10th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy

The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy is a unique non-commissioned rank in the United States Navy, which has a paygrade of E-9. The holder of this rank and post is the most senior enlisted member of the U.S...

Terry D. Scott

Terry D. Scott was the tenth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy from April 22, 2002 until July 10, 2006.-Biography:Scott was born in Buffalo, Missouri. Before enlisting in the Navy, he lived in Louisburg, Kansas. He joined the Navy in December 1976. He has served on several naval ships almost...

.

Austal has proposed a much smaller and slower trimaran, called the Multi-Role Vessel or Multi-Role Corvette. Though it is only half the size of their LCS design, it would still be useful for border protection and counter piracy operations. Navy leaders said that the fixed price competition offered the Austal design an equal shot, in spite of its excess size and cost and limited service.

The development and construction of Independence as of June 2009 was running at 220% over-budget. The total projected cost for the ship is $704 million. The Navy had originally projected the cost at $220 million. Independence began builder's trials near Mobile, Alabama on July 2, 2009, three days behind schedule because of maintenance issues.

In response to problems with the propulsion plant, the ship experienced a leak in the port gas turbine shaft seal, General Dynamics resequenced the builder's trials to test other systems until this was fixed. The ship completed builder's trials on October 21, 2009 and acceptance trials on November 19, 2009.

On December 9, 2009 the Navy announced that the ship had completed its first INSURV inspection. The inspection found 2,080 discrepancies, including 39 high-priority deficiencies, but concluded that all could be resolved before the Navy accepts the ship as scheduled. The ship was delivered to the Navy on December 17, 2009. On December 18, the Navy officially accepted custody of the ship. However the ship was found to be incomplete and a second round of acceptance trials was scheduled for 2011.

The ship was commissioned on January 16, 2010 in Mobile, Alabama

Mobile, Alabama

Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...

and completed her maiden voyage in April 2010.

In 2010 the Navy asked for an additional $5.3 million to correct problems found in the sea trials.

In 2011 the corrosion problem was found to be even worse than expected and repair will require time in a drydock to completely remove the water jets. In response Austal blamed the US Navy for not properly maintaining the ship. However the Navy replied that the electrical insulation had been improperly installed during construction. Later Austal said it had found a fix for the problem that would be tested on the third Austal LCS ship.

Galvanic corrosion is a problem encountered on naval vessels at least since the first iron-hulled warship, the USS Michigan

USS Michigan (1843)

|USS Michigan was the United States Navy's first iron-hulled warship and served during the American Civil War. She was renamed USS Wolverine in 1905.-Early career:...

in 1844, and is easily managed through regular maintenance and sacrificial cathodic protection. In the case of the Austal-General Dynamics LCS-2, galvanic corrosion caused by an aluminum hull in contact with stainless steel propulsion system housing in the presence of sea water, not to mention other electrical currents not yet fully isolated, should have been easily predicted and prevented. Funding for a cathodic protection system on this warship design appears to have been deleted, but a press release from the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services regarding the markup of the FY12 National Defense Authorization Act appears to restore some funding.

Seven United State Senators have sent a letter to the Department of Defense questioning the management of the corrosion problems of Independence.

In July 2011, Navy Public Information Officer Christopher G. Johnson said that a "cathodic protection system" would be installed on the ship.

In fiction

The USS Independence inspired the character Tony Trihull in the film Cars 2

Cars 2

Cars 2 is a 2011 American computer-animated action film produced by Pixar, and it is the sequel to the 2006 film, Cars. In the film, race car Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater head to Japan and Europe to compete in the World Grand Prix, but Mater becomes sidetracked with international espionage...

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Description

History

In fiction

See also

External links