USS Freedom (LCS-1)

USS *Freedom* (LCS-1)
History
USS Freedom shows off her new dazzle camouflage scheme on sea trials in February 2013 before her first deployment
United States
Name:	USS Freedom
Ordered:	May 2004
Builder:	Marinette Marine, Marinette, Wisconsin
Laid down:	2 June 2005
Launched:	23 September 2006
Acquired:	18 September 2008
Commissioned:	8 November 2008 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Homeport:	Naval Base San Diego
Motto:	Fast, Focused, Fearless
Status:	in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Freedom-class littoral combat ship
Displacement:	3,500 t (3,900 short tons) (full load)
Length:	378 ft (115 m)
Beam:	57.4 ft (17.5 m)
Draft:	12.8 ft (3.9 m)
Installed power:	Electrical: 4 Isotta Fraschini V1708 diesel engines, Hitzinger generator units, 800 kW (1,100 hp) each
Propulsion:	2 Rolls-Royce MT30 36 MW (48,000 hp) gas turbines, 2 Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, 4 Rolls-Royce waterjets
Speed:	47 knots (87 km/h; 54 mph) (sea state 3)
Range:	3,500 nmi (6,500 km; 4,000 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Endurance:	21 days (336 hours)
Boats & landing craft carried:	11 m (36 ft) Rigid-hulled inflatable boat, 40 ft (12 m) high-speed boats
Complement:	50 core crew, 98 or more with mission package and air detachment crew (Blue and Gold crews)
Sensors and processing systems:	EADS TRS-3D 3D air and surface search radar Lockheed Martin COMBATSS-21 combat management system AN/SQR-20 Multi-Function Towed Array (As part of ASW mission module)
Electronic warfare & decoys:	Argon ST WBR-2000 ESM system Terma A/S SKWS decoy system
Armament:	1 x BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun, 400 rounds in turret and two ready service magazines with 240 rounds each. 4 x .50-cal machine guns 2 x Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm guns 21 x RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile Surface-to-Air Missiles Other weapons as part of mission modules
Aircraft carried:	1 x MH-60R/S Seahawk MQ-8 Fire Scout
Aviation facilities:	Hangar bay

USS Freedom (LCS 1) is the lead ship of the Freedom class of littoral combat ships (LCS). She is the third vessel of the United States Navy to be so named for the concept of freedom. She is the design competitor produced by the Lockheed Martin consortium, in competition with the General Dynamics-designed USS Independence. She was officially accepted by the Supervisor of Shipbuilding Gulf Coast on behalf of the US Navy from the Lockheed Martin/Marinette Marine/Gibbs and Cox team in Marinette, Wisconsin on 18 September 2008.

She is designed for a variety of missions in shallow waters, capable against submarines, small ships, minesweeping and humanitarian relief but not designed to take on large Warships. The ship is a semi-planing monohull design capable of over 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph).

Commissioned in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on 8 November 2008, USS Freedom is home-ported in San Diego.

USS Freedom is the first of two dramatically different LCS designs being produced; the other, USS Independence (LCS-2), is a trimaran built by a team led by General Dynamics' Bath Iron Works and Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. USS Freedom is designed to be a fast, maneuverable and networked surface combatant for missions such as anti-mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare and humanitarian relief.

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