The newly commissioned ship carrying the Cincinnati name is safely home at its port in San Diego.
The USS Cincinnati arrived at Naval Base San Diego for the first time on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The Independence-variant littoral combat ship set out for California after its commissioning Oct. 5. It carries 70 crew members.
"The crew of USS Cincinnati has put in a tremendous amount of hard work over the last six to seven months from the ship's pre-commissioning, to bringing the ship to life, to the successful completion of our sail around," says Cmdr. Jedediah Kloppel, commanding officer of USS Cincinnati in a statement. "Their dedication has been second to none and we are thrilled to deliver Cincinnati to our homeport here in San Diego and to reunite with family, friends, and shipmates."
The USS Cincinnati is a littoral combat ship (LCS), meaning it is a "high-speed, agile, shallow draft, focused-mission surface combatant designed to conduct surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral region," according to Austal USA, the company that built it.
The Navy has commissioned six LCS so far this year, for a total of 19 in the fleet.
"Cincinnati is a great ship with an incredible crew," says Capt. Matthew McGonigle, commodore of Littoral Combat Ship Squadron 1. "With Cincinnati's arrival, we now have 12 littoral combat ships homeported in San Diego, and we are extremely proud of the hard work our LCS crews continue to demonstrate every day."
The ship was delivered to the Navy in June by Austal USA, which has a more than $4.5 billion contract to provide 19 ships. The USS Cincinnati is the 10th Independence-variant littoral combat ship and will be the 18th LCS to enter the fleet, according to the company.
As WVXU previously reported, the ship includes two LM2500 marine gas turbine engines built at GE Aviation in Evendale. "Each LM2500 engine produces over 29,500 horsepower, propelling the ship to speeds in excess of 40 knots, or 46 miles per hour," GE says.
This is the Navy's fifth vessel to carry the name "Cincinnati."
- USSCincinnati(1861) was an ironclad river gunboat commissioned in 1862 that sunk twice in battle and raised each time. It was sold in 1866.
- USSCincinnati(C-7) was a protected cruiser in service from 1894 to 1919.
- USSCincinnati(CL-6) was a light cruiser commissioned in 1924, on patrols in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II, and scrapped in 1946.
- USSCincinnati(SSN-693) was a Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine in service from 1978 to 1996.
- USS Queen City (Tinclad #26) commissioned in April 1863 and ultimately blown up and destroyed by Confederate forces.
(Information courtesy of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and the City of Cincinnati.)
