KEEL LAID FOR LCS 13 AT MARINETTE

The keel for the Navy’s 13th Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), Wichita, was officially laid in a ceremony held at Marinette Marine Corp. in Marinette, Wis., in early February

At the ceremony, Kate Staples Lehrer’s initials were welded into a sheet of the ship’s steel, which will ultimately be mounted in the LCS. Lehrer is the ship’s sponsor. The Wichita is a 378'×57' semi-planing, steel monohull LCS that will be designed and outfitted with systems to conduct a variety of missions including anti-surface warfare, mine countermeasures and submarine warfare. The industry team, led by Lockheed Martin, has so far delivered two ships with six others in various stages of construction and testing. The Navy’s first LCS, Freedom, completed a deployment in 2013, and the

Fort Worth

(LCS 3) is currently deployed for 16 months to Southeast Asia. All of the monohull LCSes have been and will continue to be built at Marinette and carry odd number designations.