![]() USS Augusta being launched at Austal Shipyards. | |
History | |
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Name | Augusta |
Namesake | Augusta |
Awarded | 18 September 2018 [1] |
Builder | Austal USA |
Laid down | 30 July 2021 [2] |
Launched | 23 May 2022 |
Sponsored by | Leigh Ingalls Saufley |
Christened | 17 December 2022 [3] |
Acquired | 12 May 2023 [4] |
Commissioned | 30 September 2023 [2] |
Homeport | Naval Base San Diego |
Identification | Hull number: LCS-34 |
Motto | Protecting the Frontier [5] |
Status | In active service |
Badge | ![]() |
General characteristics | |
Class & 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× gas turbines, 2× diesel, 4× waterjets, retractable Azimuth thruster, 4× diesel generators |
Speed | 40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph)+, 47 knots (54 mph; 87 km/h) sprint |
Range | 4,300 nautical miles (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)+ |
Capacity | 210 tonnes |
Complement | 40 core crew (8 officers, 32 enlisted) plus up to 35 mission crew |
Sensors & processing systems |
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Electronic warfare & decoys | |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 2× MH-60R/S Seahawks |
USS Augusta (LCS-34) is an Independence-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. [1] [6] She is the second ship to be named for Augusta, Maine. [6]
In 2002, the United States Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships. [7] The Navy initially ordered two trimaran hulled ships from General Dynamics, which became known as the Independence-class littoral combat ship after the first ship of the class, USS Independence. [7] Even-numbered US Navy littoral combat ships are built using the Independence-class trimaran design, while odd-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the conventional monohull Freedom-class littoral combat ship. [7] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence-class design. [7] On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence-class littoral combat ships. [8] [9]
Augusta was built in Mobile, Alabama by Austal USA. [10] Austal USA delivered the ship to the Navy, in Mobile on 12 May 2023. [4] She joined the active fleet with a commissioning ceremony in Eastport, Maine on 30 September 2023. [11] Augusta arrived at her homeport of San Diego on 30 October 2023. [12]