Future USS Tulsa passes acceptance trials
NewsMarch 19, 2018
MOBILE, Ala. U.S. Navy officials report that the future Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) Tulsa (LCS 16) recently successfully completed acceptance trials following a series of in-port and underway demonstrations for the naval Board of Inspection and Survey.
During the underway demo, the ship successfully deployed her bow thruster, tested the twin boom extensible crane operations with the 11-meter rigid-hull inflatable boat, completed surface and air self-defense detect-to-engage exercises, and demonstrated the ship's handling and maneuverability through high-speed steering and anchor operation.
The future USS Tulsa will be commissioned into service following delivery, an industrial post-delivery availability, and a post-delivery availability that will consist of crew training, certifications, and familiarization exercises in Mobile, the location of shipbuilder Austal USA. The ship's home port will be San Diego, along with sister ships USS Independence (LCS 2), USS Coronado (LCS 4), USS Jackson (LCS 6), USS Montgomery (LCS 8), USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), USS Omaha (LCS 12), and the future USS Manchester (LCS 14), which is set to be commissioned on May 26 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Information from the U.S. Navy details that the LCS format is a modular, reconfigurable ship designed to meet validated fleet requirements for surface warfare, antisubmarine warfare, and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral region. These ships enable U.S. joint force access to critical theaters while using an open architecture design, modular weapons, sensor systems, and both manned and unmanned vehicles to gain, sustain, and exploit littoral maritime supremacy.
