First the bad.
The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11) was decommissioned in Mayport on Monday. Built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin, Sioux City was the first ship named for the Iowa city and commissioned 17 November 2018, at the Naval Academy. In all, she was only in service for 4 years, 8 months, and 28 days, most of which was assigned to the Florida-based Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two.
MARTINIQUE, FRANCE (June 23, 2021) The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Sioux City (LCS 11) conducts a bilateral maritime exercise with the French Navy Floréal-class frigate FS Germinal (F735) following a port visit to Martinique, France, June 23, 2021. Sioux City is deployed to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations to support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter-illicit drug trafficking missions in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Marianne Guemo)
As the Navy just plain doesn’t want these ships anymore, and the Freedom-variant has an albatross of an engineering suite that seems almost totally doomed to fail at some point, she is now headed to the inactive fleet.
However, you can’t say that she didn’t have an active career during her short time in commission. Via the Navy:
Sioux City completed four successful deployments in December 2020, July 2021, December 2021, and October 2022. The ship deployed to U.S. Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Fleet, integrated with a carrier strike group, performed exercises with partner navies, and conducted joint maneuvers with other U.S. Navy warships. While deployed in 2022, Sioux City provided a maritime security presence enabling the free flow of commerce in key corridors of trade. Sioux City was also the first LCS to operate in U.S. Fifth and Sixth fleets across the Atlantic where they participated in counter-drug trafficking operations with the U.S. Coast Guard to seize over 10,000 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $500 million.
The fine citizens of Sioux City deserved better.
Old Burkes get extended
The news comes in tandem that a four-pack of early Flight I (no hanger, SLQ-32, two CIWS, Harpoon) Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers will be given further work to remain in service, stretching their service life beyond 35 years.
180720-N-OY799-0326 PHILIPPINE SEA (July 20, 2018) The guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69) steams alongside the Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier, USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), during a transit of the Philippine Sea. Ronald Reagan, the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 5, provides a combat-ready force that protects and defends the collective maritime interests of its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kenneth Abbate/Released)
USS Ramage (DDG 61), homeported in Norfolk, VA, and USS Benfold (DDG 65), based in Yokosuka, Japan, have been extended by five years to FY 2035 and FY 2036, respectively.
USS Mitscher (DDG 57), also homeported in Norfolk, and USS Milius (DDG 69), homeported out of Yokosuka, have been extended by four years to FY 2034 and FY 2035, respectively.
This hits the feels personally as I was a “constructor plankowner” on all four of these tin cans I worked on each extensively while I was at Ingalls and even made it out on Ramage’s pre-commissioning tiger cruise.
Some of my personal snaps from the Ramage’s May 1995 tiger cruise
According to the Navy:
Each of these ships has received Aegis Baseline 9 upgrades through the DDG Modernization program. The program provided a comprehensive mid-life modernization to these destroyers, ensuring they have the right systems to remain capable and reliable to the end of their service life. Based on analysis by the Navy’s technical community, these extensions were feasible because each ship properly adhered to lifecycle maintenance plans and were well maintained in good material condition by their crews.
Ted Stevens hits the water.
Ingalls in Pascagoula this week announced the successful translation and launch of the Navy’s third Flight III Burke, the future USS Ted Stevens (DDG 128). She is set for her official christening this weekend.
HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division successfully launched the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer Ted Stevens (DDG 128). The ship will be christened Saturday, 19 August 2023 in Pascagoula, Mississippi. HII photo
HII photo
Ted Stevens is the 76th Arleigh Burke-class ship, and its name honors former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, who served as a pilot in World War II and later as a U.S. senator representing Alaska. At the time he left office in 2009, he was the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator in history.
Ingalls has delivered 35 Arleigh Burke-class destroyers to the U.S. Navy including the first Flight III, USS Jack H. Lucas (DDG 125), in June of this year. In addition, Ingalls Shipbuilding has four Flight IIIs currently under construction and was awarded an additional six destroyers earlier this month. Ted Stevens will be christened Saturday, Aug. 19, while Jeremiah Denton (DDG 129), George M. Neal (DDG 131), and Sam Nunn (DDG 133) are also under construction at Ingalls.