The US Navy has commissioned the 14th Freedom-class littoral combat ship, the USS Nantucket (LCS 27), in Boston, Massachusetts.
The event followed the vessel’s acceptance trials in 2022 and delivery in July 2024. Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine began construction in 2017 as part of the US Department of Defense’s objective to modernize its warship fleet.
It is the third ship to bear the name of Nantucket after a Civil War-era coastal monitor ship and an early 1910s gunboat, which was later converted into a maritime training system.
During the ceremony, the LCS was docked near the USS Constitution, a wooden-hulled heavy frigate that serves as the navy’s oldest commissioned vessel.
After its induction, the platform will sail to its homeport in Naval Station Mayport, Florida.
“Our mission on Nantucket is the same as the Constitution was in 1812, while technology has changed over the last 200 years, the mission of the United States Navy remains the same, keep the sea lanes open for commerce, deter piracy and promote peace around the world,” USS Nantucket Commander Kari Yakubisin remarked.
The Freedom-Class System
The Nantucket measures 378 feet (115 meters) long and has a capacity for more than 100 sailors.
Its deck can carry an SH-60 Seahawk helicopter and two vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drones.
It is protected by a steel and aluminum superstructure, electronic warfare and decoy systems, an automatic naval gun, machine guns, surface-to-air and anti-armor missiles, and a directed energy weapon system.
The Freedom-class ship is powered by four waterjets, twin Rolls-Royce gas turbines, and twin diesel engines for a top speed of more than 40 knots (46 miles/74 kilometers per hour) and a range of 3,500 nautical miles (4,028 miles/6,482 kilometers).