USS Cleveland (LCS-31) is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy.[5] She is the fourth commissioned ship in naval service named after Cleveland, the second-largest city in Ohio.[6]
Sister-ship USS Freedom underway on sea trials in February 2013
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Cleveland |
Namesake | City of Cleveland |
Awarded | 15 January 2019[2] |
Builder | Marinette Marine |
Laid down | 16 June 2021[3] |
Launched | 15 April 2023[1] |
Sponsored by | Robyn Modly[1] |
Christened | 15 April 2023[1] |
Identification | Hull number: LCS-31 |
Motto | Forge a Legacy[4] |
Status | Under construction |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Freedom-class littoral combat ship |
Displacement | 3,410 metric tons (3,760 short tons) full load[2] |
Length | 388 ft (118 m)[2] |
Beam | 58 ft (18 m)[2] |
Draft | 14 ft (4.3 m)[2] |
Speed | >40 knots (46 mph; 74 km/h) |
Complement | 9 officers, 41 enlisted[2] |
In 2002, the US Navy began a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.[7] The Navy initially ordered two monohull ships from Lockheed Martin, which became known as the Freedom-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class, USS Freedom.[7][8] Odd-numbered US Navy littoral combat ships are built using the Freedom-class monohull design, while even-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the trimaran hull Independence-class littoral combat ship from General Dynamics.[7] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Freedom-class design.[7] Cleveland is the sixteenth Freedom-class littoral combat ship to be built.
Marinette Marine was awarded the contract to build the ship on 15 January 2019.[2] Cleveland was launched on 14 April 2023.[9][10] In a sideways launch, Cleveland was involved in a minor collision with a tugboat. No injuries were reported, and damage to Cleveland was "limited" and above the waterline. The shipyard intends to use a shiplift to transfer future ships to the water in a more controlled manner.[11]