Future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul christened, launched at Marinette Marine
MARINETTE, Wis. (WLUK) -- Saturday marked another christening and launch at Fincantieri Marinette Marine.
The future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul will one day become the Navy's newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship (LCS).
U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum of Minneapolis gave the principal address.
A bottle of wine against the ship's bow Saturday morning.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine says the LCS 21 is the 11th Freedom-variant LCS.
Odd-numbered ships are made at Marinette Marine. Even-numbered ships are made at a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.
Here are a list of ships built or being built at Marinette Marine according to the Navy:
- USS Freedom (LCS 1) was delivered to the Navy in 2008
- USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) was delivered in 2012
- USS Milwaukee (LCS 5) was delivered in 2015
- USS Detroit (LCS 7) was delivered in 2016
- USS Little Rock (LCS 9) was delivered in 2017
- USS Sioux City (LCS 11) and USS Wichita (LCS 13) were delivered in 2018
- Future USS St. Louis (LCS-19) was launched in 2018
- USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS-21) was launched in 2019
- USS Cooperstown (LCS-23) is under construction
- USS Marinette (LCS-25) is under construction
Ships do not acquire the USS title until their commissioning.
The U.S. Department of Defense says the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul...
...is the second ship named in honor of Minnesota's twin cities. The first was a Los Angeles-class fast attack submarine that served from 1984 to 2008. Two U.S. Navy ships have been named for Minneapolis and two for St. Paul. The first Minneapolis was a cruiser commissioned from 1894 until 1921. The second Minneapolis was a New Orleans-class cruiser commissioned in 1934, earning 16 battle stars for World War II service by 1946, when it was decommissioned. The first St. Paul, a passenger liner chartered by the Navy, served in the Spanish-American War and in World War I. The second St. Paul was a Baltimore-class cruiser commissioned in 1945, earned one battle star for World War II service, eight battle stars for Korean service, and eight battle stars for Vietnam service by the time it was decommissioned in 1971.
