The Navy decommissioned the littoral combat ship USS Coronado on Wednesday in a cost-saving move affecting the earliest versions of service’s small warship class.
“Today we recognize the great contribution Coronado and its crew made in developing the operational concepts foundational to the current configuration and deployment of littoral combat ships,” said Rear Adm. Wayne Baze, commander of Expeditionary Strike Group 3. “Thanks to Coronado, the future of LCS looks bright.”
The Coronado, the second trimaran-variant in the littoral class, was commissioned eight years ago in April 2014.
It’s the third littoral ship the Navy has decommissioned, and the service wants to deactivate another 10, primarily the East Coast-based monohull-variant, in a cost-saving move.
Adm. Mike Gilday, chief of naval operations, has said the Navy would rather put funds toward the new Constellation-class frigates, which are larger and more capable warships, instead of upgrading older littoral ships.
If Congress approves the Navy’s decommissioning plan, then a total of 21 littoral combat ships would remain, most of them the trimaran-variant based in San Diego.
The littoral ships were designed as fast, agile platforms for conflicts in near-shore environments.