45-713: USS Independence ( LCS-2 ) is the lead ship of the Independence -class of littoral combat ships . 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
90-447: A " cathodic protection system" would be installed on the ship. Such systems generally consist of strategically located deposits of "sacrificial metals" which act as an anode to reduce corrosion of the metal being protected. On 2 May 2012, Independence completed her maiden voyage to her homeport , Naval Base San Diego, CA, where she was assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One In 2013, leaked U.S. Navy documents that showed that
135-502: A crew of 43 sailors. With 11,000 cubic meters (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, at 1,030 m (11,100 sq ft), can support two SH-60 Seahawk helicopters, multiple unmanned aerial vehicles , or one CH-53 Sea Stallion-class helicopter. The trimaran aluminum hull will allow flight operations up to sea state 5. Independence carries
180-510: A default armament for self-defense. Unlike traditional combatants with fixed armament such as guns and missiles, tailored mission modules can be configured for one mission package at a time. Modules may consist of manned aircraft, unmanned vehicles, offboard sensors, or mission manning detachments. The interior volume and payload is greater than some destroyers, allowing the ship to serve as a high-speed transport-and-maneuver platform. The 15,200-square-foot (1,410 m) mission bay takes up most of
225-595: A dock and would have allowed the ship to transport the cancelled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle . Bunks and living spaces are below the bridge. The helm is controlled by joysticks instead of a traditional steering wheel. Independence also has an integrated LOS Mast, Sea Giraffe 3D radar and SeaStar Safire FLIR. Side and forward surfaces are angled to reduce the ship's radar profile. In addition, H-60 -series helicopters provide airlift, rescue, anti-submarine, radar picket and anti-ship capabilities with torpedoes and missiles. The Raytheon Evolved SeaRAM missile defense system
270-599: A mock minefield twice, the suite of counter-mine technologies detected mines each instance and completed search, detect, and destroy phases; it was also the first time all three components of the MCM package had been integrated on board the ship. Testing of the ASW package was conducted in September, where for the first time both the active and passive sonars were towed at once to make sure the two systems did not cross. On 20 June 2020,
315-411: A much higher operating tempo than previous tests, and Independence accomplished all tasks without experiencing any major difficulties. Independence tested the MCM and ASW mission modules for the littoral combat ship designs during the summer of 2014. It was the first time the ship had conducted end-to-end missions, and the crew successfully performed at the high operational tempos. When moving through
360-493: A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet confirmed that Independence would take part in RIMPAC 2014, reversing an earlier decision to keep littoral combat ships in southern California to carry out tests and various exercises. The ship would join more than two dozen foreign ships and a similar number of Navy ships in exercises off Hawaii from 6–25 July 2014. Independence was operating out of San Diego testing her MCM package when it
405-407: A sustainable 44 knots (81 km/h; 51 mph) and even faster for short periods. On 29 July 2021, the Navy decommissioned Independence during a private ceremony at Naval Base San Diego , California. The design for Independence is based on a high-speed trimaran ( Benchijigua Express ) hull built by Austal (Henderson, Australia). The 418-foot (127 m) surface combatant design requires
450-549: Is called the combat direction center (CDC). The United States developed their Command Information Center concept circa the winter of 1942–1943 and implemented it in a surge of refitting and retraining during 1943 after post-battle action analyses of battles in 1942 from the battle of the Coral Sea through the losses at Ironbottom Sound during the protracted Solomon Islands campaign . In British usage this area may be known as an aircraft direction room ; together with
495-761: Is installed on the hangar roof. The SeaRAM combines the sensors of the Phalanx 1B close in weapon system with an eleven missile launcher for the Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM), creating an autonomous system. Northrop Grumman has demonstrated sensor fusion of on and off board systems in the Integrated Combat Management System (ICMS) used on Independence . Instead of the heavily protected Combat Information Center found on other Navy warships, Independence has an Interior Communications Center that can be curtained off from
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#1732779476388540-410: Is the first of a series or class of ships that are all constructed according to the same general design . The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels. Large ships are very complex and may take five to ten years to build. Improvements based on experience with building and operating the lead ship are likely to be incorporated into the design or construction of later ships in
585-605: The Adelaide class in Royal Australian Navy service. Combat Information Center A combat information center ( CIC ) or action information centre ( AIC ) is a room in a warship or AWACS aircraft that functions as a tactical center and provides processed information for command and control of the near battlespace or area of operations . Within other military commands , rooms serving similar functions are known as command centers . Regardless of
630-713: The Battle of Guadalcanal , the United States Navy employed operational analysis , determined many of their losses were due to procedure and disorganization, and implemented the Combat Information Centers, building on what was initially called "radar plot" according to an essay CIC Yesterday and Today by the Naval Historical Center. That same article points out that in 1942 radar, radar procedure, battle experiences, needs, and
675-596: The Battle of the Philippine Sea when set out as radar pickets had to undertake forward air controller (FAC) functions and somehow jam in air search radar and anti-air action control functions. From that beginning, were added the corporate experiences of the continuing series of naval air and naval surface actions around and about the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands campaign. By late 1943 when
720-507: The Austal design an equal shot, in spite of her excess size, cost and limited service. In June 2009, the development and construction of Independence was 220% over-budget. The total projected cost for the ship was $ 704 million. The Navy had originally projected the cost at $ 220 million. Independence began builder's trials near Mobile, Alabama on 2 July 2009, three days behind schedule because of maintenance issues. In response to problems with
765-524: The CIC decision makers. A single 'mark' ( range and bearing datum) bears little actionable decision-making information by itself. A succession of such data tells much more, including whether the contact is closing or opening in range, an idea of its speed and direction (these are calculable, even from bearings-only data, given sufficient observations and knowledge of tactics), the relation to other contacts and their ranges and behaviors. Harvesting such data sets from
810-512: The Navy accepted the ship as scheduled. The ship was delivered to the Navy on 17 December 2009, and the service officially accepted her the next day. However, the ship was found to be incomplete and a second round of acceptance trials was scheduled for 2011. The ship was commissioned on 16 January 2010 at Mobile, Alabama and completed her maiden voyage in April 2010. In 2010, the Navy asked for an additional $ 5.3 million to correct problems found in
855-739: The US Navy announced that they would be taking Independence out of commission in March 2021, and placing her, along with Freedom , Fort Worth , and Coronado in reserve. On 29 July 2021, the Navy decommissioned Independence during a private ceremony at Naval Base San Diego, CA. As of 2022, Independence , resides with the US Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Bremerton, WA. Lead ship The lead ship , name ship , or class leader
900-456: The abilities and processes of a centralized control room. The Naval History & Heritage Command essay notes that growing the responsibility of the nascent CIC organization necessarily upset the old order of doing, who was reporting to whom, and most of all, of communications protocols where now CICs within a task group were, when possible, joined in permanent communication links to even the lowliest destroyer escort or fleet auxiliary, adding
945-592: The almost ubiquitous grease-pencil annotated polar plot on an edge-lighted transparent plotting board. At the time the CIC concept was born, the projected map-like polar display ( PPI scopes ) with the ship at the center was making its way into radar displays displacing the A-scope which was simply a time-delayed blip showing a range on the cathode ray tube display of an oscilloscope . Such polar plots are used routinely in navigation and military action management to display time-stamped range and bearing information to
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#1732779476388990-434: The class, so it is rare to have vessels that are identical. The second and later ships are often started before the first one is completed, launched and tested. Nevertheless, building copies is still more efficient and cost effective than building prototypes , and the lead ship will usually be followed by copies with some improvements rather than radically different versions. The improvements will sometimes be retrofitted to
1035-463: The decision makers. The methods and materials may vary, but the provision of information & options to a leader remain the same. Some control, assistance, and coordination functions may be delegated to the CIC staff or directly to the CIC officer, such as overseeing the mode and prioritization of sensor resources such as radar monitoring, targeting, or sonar activities; communications to external sources and assets. On US aircraft carriers this area
1080-416: The deck below the hangar and flight deck. Packages the size of a 20-foot-long (6.1 m) shipping container can be airlifted onto the deck at sea, then moved by an elevator into the mission bay. In addition to cargo or container-sized mission modules, the bay can carry four lanes of multiple Strykers , armored Humvees , and their associated troops. A side ramp allows vehicle roll-on/roll-off loading to
1125-411: The end of 2009, was a high-speed, small-crew corvette , although the U.S. Navy does not use the term, intended to operate littoral waters. 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
1170-545: The eyes and reports of their lookouts to those of similar watch-standers about the fleet as a whole. In short the CICs continually grew for a time, superseding old organizational structure and supplanting them with a new system filtering and shaping information to a newly empowered command group. The tasks and facilities put at the service of the CICs also grew within a ship. While in 1943 a destroyer CIC might just have been configured for anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare tasks, by
1215-636: The first new construction carriers of the Essex -class fleet carriers and the Independence -class light carriers with many associated fleet vessels had reinforced the refitted USS Enterprise (CV-6) and the USS Saratoga (CV-3) , the U.S. Navy was prepared to take the offensive and began evolving CIC procedures and operational doctrine for a fleet of carriers. There has been an evolution of electronics ( computer ) equipment and user interfaces used in such installations over time. Modern CIC equipment
1260-549: The idea for a command information center was taken “specifically, consciously, and directly” from the spaceship Directrix in the Lensman novels of E. E. Smith , Ph.D., and influenced by the works of his friend and collaborator Robert Heinlein , a retired American naval officer. After the numerous losses during the various naval battles off Guadalcanal during the war of attrition in the Solomon Islands campaign and
1305-494: The lead ship. Occasionally, the lead ship will be launched and commissioned for shakedown testing before following ships are completed, making the lead ship a combination of template and prototype, rather than expending resources on a prototype that will never see actual use. Ship classes are typically named in one of two ways; echoing the name of the lead ship, such as the Pennsylvania -class battleships , whose lead ship
1350-570: The operations room all grew up together as needs developed and experience was gained and training spread, all in fits and starts, beginning with the earliest radar uses in the Pacific battles starting with the Coral Sea , when radar gave rise to the first tentative attempt to vector an Air CAP to approaching Japanese flights, maturing somewhat before the Battle of Midway , where post-battle analysis of Coral Sea's results had given more confidence in
1395-615: The operations room they form an "operations headquarters". The British aircraft direction room evolved from the fighter direction office, a primitive means of controlling an aircraft carrier's aircraft through radio and radar. In September, 1942, HMS Victorious underwent a refit that included installation of an aircraft direction room. The idea of such a centralized control room can be found in science fiction as early as The Struggle for Empire (1900) . Early versions were used in World War II; according to Rear Admiral Cal Laning ,
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1440-420: The polar plots and computers (Common to sonar , radar and lidar ) allows the CIC crew to plot the data correctly on a chart or map at the correct range and bearing, and to calculate the course and speed of the contact accurately, giving the set a vast expansion to include future positions, given unchanged relative courses and relative speeds. A CIC in a naval context brings together and manages information on
1485-487: The propulsion plant (the port gas turbine shaft seal sprang a leak), General Dynamics rearranged builder's trials to test other systems until this was fixed. The ship completed builder's trials on 21 October 2009 and acceptance trials on 19 November 2009. On 9 December 2009, the Navy announced that the ship had completed the first INSURV inspection. The inspection found 2,080 discrepancies, including 39 high-priority deficiencies, but concluded that all could be resolved before
1530-599: The rest of the bridge. Austal claims that Independence will use one-third less fuel than Freedom , but the Congressional Budget Office found that fuel would account for 18 percent or less of the total lifetime cost of Freedom . While it was unable to judge the fuel usage of Independence , the higher purchase price of Independence would dominate her lifetime costs. The contract was awarded to General Dynamics in July 2003. The contract to build her
1575-435: The sea trials. Galvanic corrosion caused by an aluminum hull acts as an anode in contact with the stainless steel propulsion system with sea water acting as an electrolyte , and electrical currents not fully isolated, caused "aggressive corrosion." Prior to the discovery of corrosion, Austal and General Dynamics had both agreed to dissolve their relationship with each other and agree to act as competitors in March. The cause of
1620-653: The ship was originally to be named USS Liberty , but the name was changed due to the controversial 1967 USS Liberty incident . This was uncovered by a Freedom of Information Act request that showed Liberty appearing on a list of recommended names to the Secretary of the Navy; the Naval Vessel Register identified LCS-2 as the Liberty before it was changed to the Independence . On 19 May 2014,
1665-487: The ship. However the Navy replied that the electrical insulation had been improperly installed during construction. Later Austal said it had found a fix for the problem that would be tested on the third Austal LCS ship. In 2011, seven U.S. senators sent a letter to the Department of Defense questioning the management of the corrosion problems of Independence . In July 2011, a Navy Public Information Officer reported that
1710-415: The split was due to the planned competition between Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics. Prior to the split, General Dynamics was to continue maintenance on the ship after she entered service. In 2011 the corrosion problem was found to be even worse than expected and repair would require time in a drydock to completely remove the water jets. In response, Austal blamed the U.S. Navy for not properly maintaining
1755-586: The vessel or command locus, each CIC organizes and processes information into a form more convenient and usable by the commander in authority. Each CIC funnels communications and data received over multiple channels, which is then organized, evaluated, weighted and arranged to provide ordered timely information flow to the battle command staff under the control of the CIC officer and his deputies. CICs are widely depicted in film and television treatments, frequently with large maps, numerous computer consoles and radar and sonar repeater displays or consoles, as well as
1800-403: The warship's status and its surroundings, and supplies this to the commanding officer , who would generally be present on the nearby bridge or where plots can be viewed and, if one is aboard, a flag officer who might have their own separate flag bridge and fleet CIC. CICs or operations centers in other command contexts have the same function: information ordering, gathering, and presentation to
1845-418: 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
USS Independence (LCS-2) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1890-633: Was USS Pennsylvania , and the Olympic class , whose lead ship was RMS Olympic , or defining a theme by which vessels in the class are named, as in the Royal Navy 's Tribal-class frigates , named after tribes of the world, such as HMS Mohawk . If a ship class is produced for another navy, the first active unit will become the lead ship for that navy; for example, the Oliver Hazard Perry -class frigates are known as
1935-926: Was decided that she would take part in RIMPAC 2014, so the ship returned to port and switched it out for the surface warfare package in 96 hours. The first RIMPAC scenario was acting as plane guard for the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan , for which it received "Bravo Zulu" (well done) from the strike group commander. In a four-hour event, the ship played opposition force alone against four other vessels, going nearly two hours without being located. Independence performed her first joint combined operations, acting as an afloat forward staging base for Navy and foreign fast-roping helicopter operating teams, and operated two helicopters near simultaneously while launching and recovering boats. The ship performed two to three tasks per day and completed them all while not needing to pull into port and being refueled twice. RIMPAC exercises were at
1980-487: Was delivered 27 September 2013. For fiscal year 2010, the Navy planned a competition between Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics for the next three littoral combat ships, with the winner building two ships and the loser only one. Independence was christened 5 October 2008 by Doreen Scott, wife of 10th Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry D. Scott . Navy leaders said that the fixed price competition offered
2025-447: Was then awarded to Austal USA of Mobile, Alabama , on 14 October 2005 and her keel was laid down on 19 January 2006. Delivery to the United States Navy was scheduled for December 2008. The originally planned second General Dynamics ship (LCS-4) was canceled on 1 November 2007. On 1 May 2009, a second vessel was reordered by the Navy, USS Coronado . The keel was laid on 17 December 2009, with delivery scheduled for May 2012. The ship
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