USS ''Billings'' (LCS-15) 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 ...

. She is the first ship in naval service named after

Billings Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Met ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

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, 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 hull from General Dynamics. The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the ''Freedom''-class design. ''Billings'' is the eighth ''Freedom''-class littoral combat ship to be built. ''Billings'' 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

Marinette Marine was awarded the contract to build the ship on 4 March 2013. Construction began on 20 October 2014 and she was launched on 1 July 2017. she is homeported to Naval Station Mayport, Florida and 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 ...

. In June 2019, ''Billings'' visited Cleveland, Ohio. ''Billings'' sustained damage after hitting '' Rosaire Desgagnes'', a bulk cargo ship in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec, Canada. The incident occurred on 24 June 2019. The vessel's starboard

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

wing was damaged as a result of the collision. ''Billings'' was officially commissioned in Key West, Florida on 3 August 2019. On the 4 July 2021, a contingent of her crew visited their ship’s namesake city to celebrate Independence Day. Later on the 10th of the same month, the ship together with the Dominican Republic Navy conducted a passing exercise (

PASSEX A passing exercise (a PASSEX in U.S. Navy terminology) is an exercise done between two navies to ensure that the navies are able to communicate and cooperate in times of war or humanitarian relief. Common drills include flashing light drills, sema ...

). 24 August, ''Billings'' and

Burlington Burlington may refer to: Places Canada Geography * Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador * Burlington, Nova Scotia * Burlington, Ontario, the most populous city with the name "Burlington" * Burlington, Prince Edward Island * Burlington Bay, no ...

were dispatched to support and provide relief to Haiti after a 7.2-magnitute earthquake that struck Haiti on 14 August.

Gallery

File:USS Billings (LCS-15), USS Indianapolis (LCS-17) and USS St. Louis (LCS-19) at the Marinette Marine shipyard on 15 December 2018 (181215-N-N0101-113).JPG, ''Billings'', Indianapolis and

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

at the Marinette Marine shipyard on 15 December 2018 File:Aerial Video of LCS 15 Launch.webm, ''Billings'' launches sideways into the

Menominee River The Menominee River is a river in northwestern Michigan and northeastern Wisconsin in the United States. It is approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed Dece ...

in Marinette,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

on 1 July 2017

References

* Freedom-class littoral combat ships 2017 ships Ships built by Marinette Marine {{US-mil-ship-stub