| USS Sioux City underway on the Severn River on 13 November 2018 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sioux City |
| Namesake | Sioux City |
| Awarded | 16 March 2012 [1] |
| Builder | Marinette Marine [1] |
| Laid down | 19 February 2014 [2] |
| Launched | 30 January 2016 [3] |
| Sponsored by | Mary Winnefeld |
| Christened | 30 January 2016 |
| Acquired | 22 August 2018 [4] |
| Commissioned | 17 November 2018 [5] |
| Decommissioned | 14 August 2023 [6] |
| Identification | Hull number: LCS-11 |
| Motto | Forging a New Frontier |
| Status | Stricken, Final Disposition Pending [1] |
| Badge | |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Freedom-class littoral combat ship |
| Displacement | 3,500 metric tons (3,900 short tons) full load [7] |
| Length | 378.3 ft (115.3 m) |
| Beam | 57.4 ft (17.5 m) |
| Draft | 13 ft (4.0 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 Rolls-Royce MT30 36 MW gas turbines, 2 Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, 4 Rolls-Royce waterjets |
| Speed | 45 knots (52 mph; 83 km/h) (sea state 3) |
| Range | 3,500 nmi (6,500 km) at 18 knots (21 mph; 33 km/h) [8] 1,500 nmi (2,800 km) at 50 knots (58 mph; 93 km/h), 4,300 nmi (8,000 km) at 20 knots (23 mph; 37 km/h) |
| Endurance | 21 days (336 hours) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 11 m RHIB, 40 ft (12 m) high-speed boats |
| Complement | 15 to 50 core crew, 75 mission crew (Blue and Gold crews) |
| Armament | |
| Aircraft carried | |
| Notes | Electrical power is provided by 4 Isotta Fraschini V1708 diesel engines with Hitzinger generator units rated at 800 kW each. |
USS Sioux City (LCS-11) was a Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. She is the first ship named after Sioux City, the fourth-largest city in Iowa. [9] [10]
In 2002, the Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships. [11] The Navy initially ordered two monohull ships from Lockheed Martin, which became known as the Freedom-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class, USS Freedom. [11] [12] Odd-numbered littoral combat ships are built using the Freedom-class monohull design, while even-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the trimaran hull Independence-class littoral combat ship from General Dynamics. [11] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Freedom-class design. [11] Sioux City was the sixth Freedom-class littoral combat ship to be built.
Sioux City includes additional stability improvements over the original Freedom design; the stern transom was lengthened and buoyancy tanks were added to the stern to increase weight service and enhance stability. [13] The ship will also feature automated sensors to allow "conditions-based maintenance" and reduce crew overwork and fatigue issues that Freedom had on her first deployment. [14]
The ceremonial “laying of the keel” was on 19 February 2014, at Marinette, Wisconsin. [2] [15] The ship was constructed by Fincantieri Marinette Marine and launched on 30 January 2016 after being christened by her sponsor Mary Winnefield, wife of Admiral James A. Winnefeld Jr., USN. [3] [16]
Sioux City was delivered to the Navy by Lockheed Martin and the Marinette Marine shipyard on 22 August 2018 along with sister ship Wichita in a double delivery. [4] The ship was commissioned at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland on 17 November 2018, [5] and then assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two.
In September 2020, Sioux City was assigned to the US Southern Command with a United States Coast Guard law enforcement detachment on board to help perform counter-narcotics operations. [17]
In May 2022, Sioux City was assigned to the Sixth Fleet, while she was equipped with a surface warfare module. In late May, Sioux City was re-assigned to the Fifth Fleet and assigned to the Combined Task Force (CTF) 153 in the Red Sea. [18]
On 2 October 2022, Sioux City arrived at her homeport of Mayport after a five-month deployment, becoming the first LCS to operate in the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Northern Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Persian Gulf. [19]
On 14 August 2023, Sioux City was decommissioned at Naval Station Mayport with her final Commanding Officer, Commander Michael Gossett, presiding over the ceremony and placed into a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) disposition status. [6]