USS ''Wichita'' (LCS-13) is a

littoral combat ship The littoral combat ship (LCS) is either of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for operations near shore by the United States Navy. It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeat ...

of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, the third ship named after Wichita, the largest city in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Design

In 2002, the U.S. Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships. The Navy initially ordered two monohull ships from

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

, which became known as the ''Freedom''-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class, . Odd-numbered U.S. Navy littoral combat ships are built using the ''Freedom''-class monohull design, while even-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the

trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreati ...

hull from

General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...

. The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the ''Freedom''-class design. ''Wichita'' is the seventh ''Freedom''-class littoral combat ship to be built. ''Wichita'' includes additional stability improvements over the original ''Freedom'' design; the stern transom was lengthened and buoyancy tanks were added to the stern to increase weight service and enhance stability. The ship will also feature automated sensors to allow "conditions-based maintenance" and reduce crew overwork and fatigue issues that ''Freedom'' had on her first deployment.

Construction and career

The

keel laying Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

ceremony was on 9 February 2015, at

Marinette, Wisconsin Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the south bank of the Menominee River, at its mouth at Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan; to the north is Stephenson Island, part of the ...

. Sponsored by

Kate Lehrer Kate Lehrer (born Kate Tom Staples; December 17, 1939) is an American writer, novelist and book reviewer from Washington, D.C., and a panelist on the Diane Rehm Book Club on National Public Radio. She is the widow of fellow writer and journalist ...

, wife of Wichita native

Jim Lehrer James Charles Lehrer (; May 19, 1934 – January 23, 2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter, and playwright. Lehrer was the executive editor and a news anchor for the ''PBS NewsHour'' on PBS and was known for his role as a deb ...

, the ship was christened and launched on 17 September 2016. The naval crest of the ship incorporates elements of the Wichita flag, along with a bison skull and feathers representing the Native American heritage and wheat to reflect the state of Kansas's main crop. She is assigned to

Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two Naval Station Mayport is a major United States Navy base in Jacksonville, Florida. It contains a protected harbor that can accommodate aircraft carrier-size vessels, ship's intermediate maintenance activity (SIMA) and a military airfield (Admi ...

. The ship was acquired by the US Navy from

and the

Marinette Marine Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) is an American shipbuilding firm in Marinette, Wisconsin. Marinette Marine was a subsidiary of Manitowoc Marine Group of Wisconsin from 2000 to 2009, when it was sold to Fincantieri Marine Group. History M ...

shipyard on 22 August 2018 along with in a double delivery. On 4 November 2020,

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

Don Gabrielson and

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Phillip Frietze signed the Joint Force Maritime Component Commander Maritime Campaign Support Plan in a ceremony aboard ''Wichita'' at Naval Station Mayport, Florida. On 25 February 2021, the ship together with Sea Knights of Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 22, detachment 8, was underway to support operations in

US Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida in Greater Miami, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, op ...

area of responsibility. On 9 April, ''Wichita'' and Jamaica Defence Force Coast Guard patrol vessel sailed in formation during a live-fire exercise. During this time, ''Wichita'' was deployed to the US 4th Fleet of operations to support

Joint Interagency Task Force South Joint Interagency Task Force South is a United States multiservice, multiagency task force based at Naval Air Station Key West (Truman Annex), Key West, Florida. It conducts counter illicit trafficking operations, intelligence fusion and multi-s ...

’s mission, which included counter illicit drug trafficking in the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

and

Eastern Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. On 5 May 2022, ''Wichita'' conducted Maritime Interdiction Exercises with the

Dominican Navy The Navy of the Dominican Republic ( es, Armada de Republica Dominicana (ARD)), is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force. History After the Dominican Republic gained i ...

Planned decommissioning and possible reprieve

It was announced in 2022 that ''Wichita'' was one of nine ''Freedom''-class ships that the US Navy was intending to decommission during the 2023 fiscal year, but then on 11 August 2023, the Department of Defense decided that ''Wichita'' would undergo a main engine replacement that should save the vessel from early decommissioning.

References

External links

Freedom-class littoral combat ships Lockheed Martin 2016 ships {{US-mil-ship-stub