USS Charleston, Navy's Newest Littoral Combat Ship, Christened in Alabama

USS Charleston, Navy's newest littoral combat ship, christened in Alabama

Charlotte Riley, wife of former Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, breaks a bottle of champagne across the bow of the USS CHARLESTON during a christening ceremony on Saturday, Aug. 26, 2017 in Mobile, Ala. for the littoral combat ship. Armando Gonzales/U.S. Navy/Provided

The Navy's newest small combat ship, the USS CHARLESTON, was christened in Alabama on Saturday. Military officials, Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg and representatives from Austal, the company building the ship, gathered at the firm's shipyard in Mobile, Ala. Charlotte Riley, wife of former Mayor Joe Riley, was also present as the ship's sponsor and took part in the ceremonial breaking of a bottle of sparkling wine across its bow. "Today marks another major milestone with the christening of this remarkable war ship," said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle, in a statement. "Our talented shipbuilding team is honored to provide our Navy with an extraordinarily capable vessel that will honor the great city of Charleston as she operates around the world."TheUSS CHARLESTON, a littoral class ship, is the sixth in the U.S. fleet to be named after the Holy City.

Littorals are part of a new wave of design for the Navy. They are about 400 feet long, have a top speed of more than 40 knots, 46 mph, and cost $440 million. They are designed for both near-shore and open-ocean operation, and can counter threats like mines, quiet diesel submarines and fast surface craft."Charleston, like the other ships in the ... program, is going to be highly maneuverable, able to operate where other ships cannot, and will project power through forward presence," said Secretary of the Navy Richard Spencer, in a statement.

The USS CHARLESTON is the seventh of 12 such ships Austal is building under its $3.5 billion Navy contract. Prior ships named after the Holy City have been part of the Navy's arsenal dating back to the early days of the U.S.

The first was a row galley that defended the coast of South Carolina during the Quasi-War with France. Others included a protected cruiser that received the surrender of Guam during the Spanish-American War, a St. Louis-class protected cruiser that performed escort and troop transport duties in World War I, an Erie-class patrol gunboat that earned the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one battle star for her service in the northern Pacific during World War II and an amphibious cargo ship that served during the Vietnam War. The final ship to be named after the Holy City was decommissioned in 1992.

Source: postandcourier