The USS Detroit, the sixth ship in the US fleet since 1813, is preparing for christening in Marinette, Wisconsin. Later this year it will launch and the Freedom Class combat ship will come to Detroit, and when she comes down the Detroit River it will be quite a spectacle.
Some quick facts. The ship is 387 feet long, her top speed is expected to be 45 knots (or 52 miles an hour) and the USS Detroit will be able to be at sea for 21 days at a time. She will have guns and torpedoes, and even three aircraft to go along with a crew of 50.
Littoral Combat Ships are fast, focused-mission platforms designed for what are called “near-shore environments” yet capable of open-ocean operation.
Construction began in 2011, and it will be formally commissioned here in Detroit in the spring of 2016.
“It’s so fitting that we will commission the USS Detroit, which embodies the next generation of our Navy’s capabilities, in a city focusing on new horizons,” said Barbara Levin, wife of US Senator Carl Levin. “As the USS Detroit’s sponsor and a lifelong resident of Detroit, I am truly proud that we will have this opportunity to introduce a great ship and a great city to one another.”
