Littorial Combat Ships (LCS), USS Freedom & Independence classes.

This is a little unsual for me to be posting naval stuff.  But with the events happening at sea with China in recent weeks, I've been more of a naval researcher of late.  I am no expert in such matters.  I guess these two ships will be able to do their jobs.  But you konw something, I like the looks of both ships in this LCS class.  They are really kick ass looking.  

U.S. Navy releases name of Fourth Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado.  Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter announched on March 12, 2009 that the fourth Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) will be named USS Coronado.  This continues the practice of naming the agile LCSs after mid-size American cities.  This ship was named after Coronado, CA.  That is home to the Naval Air Station North Island (NASNI) and the Naval Amphibious Base(NAB).  Coronado has been home to the Navy since 1917. 

Two previous ships have been named for Coronado.  In World War Two, there was the Tacoma-class patrol frigate (PF-38) that took part in the New Guinea and Leyte battles durning World War Two.  The other was the AGF-11 ship that served as a flagship for the Third Fleet and was decommissioned in 2006. 

The Littorial Combat Ships (LCS) are designed to defeat what are known as littoral threats and provide access and dominance in coastal waters for missions such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and surface warfare.

There are actualy two different classes of hull forms for this project.  The first is a semiplaning monohull and the second is a aluminum trimaran - designed and built by Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics respectively.  These seaframes can be outfitted with reconfigurable payloads - called mission packages, which can be chaned out quickly.  Mission packages are supported by special detachments that will deploy manned and unmanned vehciles and sensors.

The Third LCS ship, USS Fort Worth, is the monohull design like that of the USS Freedom.  So far of all the LCSs, only the USS Independence trimaran is operational.

Ships of this class (USS Freedom, LCS-1; USS Independence, LCS-2; USS Fort Worth, LCS-3; USS Coronado, LCS-4).

General Specifications for the USS Freedom are-

Length:  378.3 feet (115.3 meters)

Beam:  57.4 feet (17.5 meters)

Draft: 12.1 feet (3.7 meters).

Propulsion: (2) Rols-Royce MT30 36 MW gas Turbines, (2) Colt-Pielstick diesel dengines, and (4) Rolls-Royce waterjets.

Speed:  45 knots(52 mph or 83 km/h).

Range:  3,500 nautical miles at 18 knots.

Endurance:  21 days.

Crew: 15 to 50 core members plus 75 mission specific crew (Blue and Gold crews rotating like they do for the Missile submarines).

Wepaons:  BAE Mk 110 57mm gun, RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles, Honeywell Mk 50 Torpedo, NETFIRES PAM Missile in ASW module, (2) .50 cal machineguns.

Aircraft: (2) MH-60 R/S Seahawks, (1)MQ-8 Fire Scout.

General Specifications for the USS Independence are-

Length:  417 feet (127.4 meters)

Beam:  104 feet (31.6 meters)

Draft: 14.76 feet (4.5 meters).

Propulsion: (2) gas Turbines, (2) diesel engines, and (4) Rolls-Royce waterjets. A retractable Azimuth thruster. (4) diesel generators

Speed:  47 knots(54 mph or 87 km/h).

Range:  4,500 nautical miles at 20 knots.

Endurance:  20+ days.

Crew: 40 crew (8 officers, 32 enlisted).

Wepaons:  57mm Bofors gun turret. (4) .50 cal machineguns (2 forward, and 2 aft).  Evolved Sea RAM 11 cell missile launcher.  Mission Modules.

Aircraft: (2) MH-60 R/S Seahawks, (1)MQ-8 Fire Scout.

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Ref. 

Press Release #162-09. March 12, 2009.(http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12550)

Wikipedia, USS Freedom (LCS-1), ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Freedom_(LCS-1)).

Wikipedia, USS Independence ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Independence_(LCS-2) )