The littoral combat ship USS Charleston returned to Naval Base San Diego on Wednesday at the end of a record 26-month deployment, the Navy announced.
During the lengthy deployment, the warship’s Blue and Gold crews cycled through five rotations as the ship performed missions in the Pacific and Indian oceans.
“Returning from the longest littoral combat ship deployment to date is an extremely proud moment for our crew,” said Cmdr. Matthew Knuth, commanding officer of Charleston Gold crew.
“Our work over-the-horizon would not have been possible without the dedication of each and every sailor of both Charleston crews and all the entities that supported us out there,” he said.
The Charleston is a trimaran-hull, Independence variant of the littoral class which has proven successful in contrast to the trouble-plagued, monohull Freedom variants based on the East Coast.
The warship departed San Diego in April 2021 for her maiden deployment with an embarked detachment from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 21.
It was the first littoral ship to conduct mine countermeasure training outside U.S. waters and was the first commissioned Navy ship to enter the port of Manilla since 2019.
During its deployment, the Charleston conducted several patrols in the East and South China Seas, providing what the Navy termed “a forward presence to deter aggression and maintain an open and free Indo-Pacific region.”
There are currently 13 active ships in the class, all based in San Diego, with four more under construction. The warships are 418 feet in length, armed with guns, missiles and helicopters, and can reach speeds of over 50 mph.
