USS Independence (LCS-2)

Independence at Key West, Florida
History
United States
Name:	USS Independence
Awarded:	14 October 2005
Builder:	Austal USA
Laid down:	19 January 2006
Launched:	26 April 2008
Christened:	4 October 2008
Commissioned:	16 January 2010
Homeport:	San Diego
Identification:	LCS-2
Status:	in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type:	Independence-class littoral combat ship
Displacement:	2,307 metric tons light, 3,104 metric tons full, 797 metric tons deadweight
Length:	127.4 m (418 ft)
Beam:	31.6 m (104 ft)
Draft:	14 ft (4.27 m)
Propulsion:	2× MTU Friedrichshafen 20V 8000 Series diesel engines, 2× General Electric LM2500 gas turbines, 2× American VULKAN light weight multiple-section carbon fiber propulsion shaftlines, 4× Wärtsilä waterjets, retractable bow-mounted azimuth thruster, 4× diesel generators
Speed:	44 knots (51 mph; 81 km/h)
Range:	4,300 nm at 18 knots
Capacity:	210 t (210 long tons; 230 short tons)
Complement:	43 core crew (11 officers, 32 enlisted) plus up to 35 mission crew
Sensors and processing systems:	SAAB Sea GIRAFFE 3D air and surface search radar Sperry Marine BridgeMaster E navigational radar AN/KAX-2 electro-optical sensor with TV and FLIR Northrop Grumman ICMS (Integrated Combat Management System)
Electronic warfare & decoys:	ITT Corporation ES-3601 ESM system 4× SRBOC decoy launchers for chaff and infrared decoys BAE Systems NULKA active radar decoy system
Armament:	AGM-114L Hellfire missiles 1× BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun 4× .50-cal guns (2 aft, 2 forward) 1× Raytheon SeaRAM CIWS Other weapons as part of mission modules
Aircraft carried:	2× MH-60R/S Seahawk MQ-8 Fire Scout

USS Independence (LCS-2) is the lead ship of the Independence-class littoral combat ship. She is the sixth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the concept of independence. The design was produced by the General Dynamics consortium for the Navy's LCS program, and competes with the Lockheed Martin designed Freedom variant.

Independence, delivered to the Navy at the end of 2009, is a high speed, small crew corvette (although the U.S. Navy does not use the term) intended for operation in the littoral zone. She can swap out various systems to take on various missions, including finding and destroying mines, hunting submarines in and near shallow water, and fighting small boats (she is not intended to fight warships). The ship is a trimaran design with a wide beam above the waterline that supports a larger flight deck than those of the Navy's much larger destroyers and cruisers, as well as a large hangar and a similarly large mission bay below. The trimaran hull also exhibits low hydrodynamic drag, allowing efficient operation on two diesel powered water jets at speeds up to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), and high speed operation on two gas turbine powered water jets at a sustainable 44 knots (81 km/h; 51 mph) and even faster for short periods.

The design for Independence is based on a high speed trimaran (Benchijigua Express) hull built by Austal (Henderson, Australia). The 418 feet (127 m) surface combatant design requires a crew of 43 sailors.

With 11,000 cubic metres (390,000 cu ft) of payload volume, she was designed to carry two mission modules, allowing the ship to do multiple missions without having to be refitted. The flight deck, 1,030 m² (11,100 sq ft), can support two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, multiple UAVs, or one CH-53 Sea Stallion-class helicopter. The trimaran hull will allow flight operations up to sea state 5.