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Science & Technology
US Navy to retire two 'mini' warships worth $1.2bn up to 14 years early because they were designed to fight ISIS, not China, and they keep breaking down
2021-05-19
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news]
  • The USS Freedom, which was commissioned in 2008, will be decommissioned from the active fleet on September 30 after 13 years of service

  • The USS Independence, which was commissioned in 2010 is set to decommission on July 31 after 11 years

  • Both littoral combat ships - which are designed for operations close to shore - were expected to have a 25-year service life

  • Each was expected to cost around $220 million to build, but costs ended up swelling to $600 million apiece

  • Both ships will be joining the reserve fleet after they are decommissioned

  • They were originally commissioned for the War on Terror, but are not properly equipped to combat warships from China and Russia

  • The Littoral Combat Ships have small crews and were designed for operations close to shore

  • They have been marred by lack of use and mechanical failures

  • Some sailors have nicknamed the fleet the 'Little Cr*ppy Ships'
Related:
USS Freedom: 2016-11-25 Did the Navy Steal Its Stealth Warship Designs?
USS Freedom: 2016-10-16 CO of LCS Crew Relieved Of Duty
USS Freedom: 2016-09-22 USS Montgomery becomes fifth LCS to break down within a year
Related:
USS Independence: 2018-03-02 SpaceX contemplates Mars rocket factory on the South Texas coast
USS Independence: 2010-10-01 USS Independence (LCS 2) On Final Sea Trials
USS Independence: 2010-01-11 USS Independence: Commissioning January 16, 2010
Posted by:Skidmark

#13  The LCS was basically meant to be kinda sorta like the Absalom class vessel, but twice as fast; once they put that requirement in them, the had negative weight margin and no base weapons systems. ("We'll fix that later, because they're modular." Only they didn't.)
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2021-05-19 22:46  

#12  Sell them to Israel. They would have use for them, since their "issue" is real close to shore.
Posted by: Slappy   2021-05-19 21:48  

#11  After 15 years, the Navy’s littoral combat ships are still in search of a mission

I was going to make a joke about being unable to locate the littoris, but I have been reliably informed this is not the Latin plural of 'littoral'

As for the "Mission Module" concept, bean counters love that stuff. One size fits all! We're saving money! We have spreadsheets and bar charts to prove it. Pity it never works very well. That is really the only fly in the ointment.
Posted by: SteveS   2021-05-19 20:19  

#10  /\ The Danish Flyvefisken-class patrol vessel certainly seems like a handy, small, and efficient coastal vessel at 54 metres and 450 tonnes. Compared with the (stupidly?) ambitious Freedom-class LCS at 115 metres and 3,900 tonnes...
Posted by: magpie   2021-05-19 19:48  

#9  It's working on the Danish ships it was copied from. The implementation's just bad, just like everything else to do with the ships.

It's like coming back from overseas and finding out the cat sitter you hired has put them on a vegan diet.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain   2021-05-19 16:01  

#8  The "Mission Module" Concept was a stupid idea from the onset.
Posted by: magpie   2021-05-19 14:38  

#7  After15 years, the Navy’s littoral combat ships are still in search of a mission
Posted by: Frank G   2021-05-19 14:06  

#6  Well, they look pretty cool whenever I've seen them steaming in or out of San Diego Bay. But from everything I've heard, the littoral concept was plagued from the git go with all kinds of design issues and technical problems.

Defend the high seas, overseas trade routes and American shores. Provide sea lift for the Marines.

Forget ISIS.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2021-05-19 12:21  

#5  Ask a Cheney.
Posted by: swksvolFF   2021-05-19 10:22  

#4  Commander Salamander has been complaining about them for years.
He reviews maintenance questions at Naval Institute Blog
Posted by: james   2021-05-19 09:20  

#3  Why would you build a ship to fight ISIS? As I recall they had no navy.
Posted by: Chris   2021-05-19 08:27  

#2  It's the result of decades of employing a promotion system based upon having the right boxes filled as a simple substitute for determining the 'right stuff'.

It's nothing new. In the 20s and 30s there was a continuing budget battle between big ship and big carrier proponents until December 7, 1941.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2021-05-19 07:58  

#1  Can the US Navy do anything right? From the Academy to the Pentagon, from ship to shore, it is one foul-up after another.
Posted by: Gerthudion Whomoper3485   2021-05-19 07:40  

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