Austal USA held a keel laying ceremony on Friday for the last trimaran-hull littoral combat ship that will be based in San Diego.
The future USS Pierre, named for the capitol of South Dakota, will be the 17th active littoral combat ship on the West Coast when it is completed, commissioned and arrives in San Diego.
South Dakota’s two U.S. Senators, John Thune and Mike Rounds, were joined by Pierre Mayor Steve Harding at the ceremony in Mobile, AL.
The trimaran-hull, Independence variant of the littoral class has proven successful for the Navy in contrast to the trouble-plagued, monohull Freedom variants built by Marinette Marine and based on the East Coast.
The warships are 418 feet in length, armed with guns, missiles and helicopters, and can reach speeds of over 50 mph.
The USS Charleston just completed a record-breaking 26-month deployment in the Pacific and Indian oceans with five crew rotations.
