The final Independence-class LCS will now be retooled for mine warfare, and the ships may finally serve a helpful purpose, replacing aging minesweepers. Last week, Austal USA delivered the 19th and ...

Shipbuilder Austal USA delivered the final Independence-class littoral combat ship to the U.S. Navy on Friday, marking the end of a construction phase that’s lasted 15 years. The Alabama-based Austal ...

Rising Tides is an opinion column about Mobile. Today’s guest columnist is Larry Ryder. Twenty years ago, Austal USA started construction of its first Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship, the USS ...

The Navy has been accused of stealing design elements for its Littoral Combat Ship and refusing to play the inventor who came up with them. In this case, the accusation may well have weight. Share on ...

Distinguished guests watch the crew aboard the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Pierre in Panama City. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Navy) The Navy on Saturday commissioned the last of the ...

CLEVELAND — The U.S. Navy has accepted delivery of the future USS Cleveland (LCS 31), the final Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, marking the end of more than two decades of construction on the ...

July 28, 2025: U.S. Navy is allowing the Marine Corps to have several trimaran Independence class Littoral Combat Ships/LCS ships as Littoral Explosive Ordnance Neutralization/LEON vessels. In plant ...

As the sun rose Friday morning in Mobile, the last of 19 Littoral Combat Ships built by Austal USA stood ready for its final departure. The moment could be described as the end of an era for the city.

Several U.S. naval ships are capable of reaching record-breaking speeds. As of this writing, the fastest U.S. Navy ship still in service is the Freedom-class littoral combat ship (LCS). Officially, it ...