The Navy christened its newest littoral combat ship, the future USS Tulsa, during a ceremony Saturday at the Austal USA plant in Mobile, AL.
The ship is the latest trimaran-hull, Independence-variant of the new class and will be based in San Diego.
“The christening of the future USS Tulsa serves as a tribute to the extraordinary work done by our nation’s shipbuilders and brings this great ship one step closer to joining our fleet,” said the Sean Stackley, acting secretary of the Navy.
“Our nation can be proud of this crew as they ready the ship to represent the city of Tulsa and the United States, around the world for years to come,” he said.
The future USS Tulsa will be the second Navy ship to be named in honor of the city Oklahoma. The first USS Tulsa was an Asheville-class gunboat that served from 1923 to 1944.
Littoral combat ships are fast, agile warships designed for near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. As many as 50 will be built in two variants, the trimaran Independence and single-hull Freedom.
