Photo By Chief Petty Officer Chris Williamson | 190723-N-JH293-1049 ST. LOUIS (July 23, 2019) Barbara Taylor, sponsor of the future...... read more read more
The future Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS St. Louis (LCS 19) had its official crest unveiled during a special ceremony at Soldiers Memorial Military Museum in downtown St. Louis, July 23.
Twelve of the ship’s crew members along with Lt. Cmdr. Eric Turner, the executive officer of St. Louis, and Lyda Krewson, the mayor of St. Louis, helped unveil the ship’s crest.
It is customary in the U.S. Navy for ships to have a custom, individual crest assigned to it. These naval “coat-of-arms” are most commonly reproduced on hats, stationery, trophies, souvenirs and other memorabilia.
During World War II, crests were commonly used throughout the Fleet. Nearly a decade later, ships were encouraged to design their own crests and laid out the procedure for receiving official approval.
The elements of a ship’s crest usually symbolize the city, state or person for which the naval vessel is named. Specifically, St. Louis’ crest includes components with roots to its namesake city:
• On the shield of the crest is the “Three Rivers” flag, which is the city of St. Louis official flag.
• In the center is a golden coin, which represents the Louisiana Purchase and a fleur-de-lis, which denotes the early French background of the city.
• Surrounding the shield is the Gateway Arch, which is a globally recognized symbol of St. Louis. This monument reflects the crew’s motto, “Gateway to Freedom”, which is displayed underneath the arch.
• There are 11 stars on the arch, which represent the eleven battle stars earned by USS St. Louis (CL 49).
• Underneath the shield are two horseshoes and two four-leaf clovers, which links LCS 19 with CL 49, nicknamed “Lucky Lou” for its propitiousness in WWII.
In attendance at the ceremony among various public officials and dignitaries was the ship’s sponsor, Barbara Taylor, the daughter of a decorated WWII aviator.
“I am thrilled and very honored to be the sponsor of St. Louis,” said Taylor. “The combination of my family’s military background and the enduring spirit of the great city of St. Louis made this day incredibly meaningful. I know that the people of St. Louis are extremely proud of the ship.”
After the ceremony, the crew members took a tour of the museum, which contains various artifacts from past St. Louis ships.
As a fast, agile surface combatant, St. Louis will provide warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute focused missions close to the shore, such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare.
St. Louis is built with modular design incorporating mission packages that can be changed out quickly for combat as needed. These mission packages are supported by detachments that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles, and sensors in support of mine, undersea and surface warfare missions.
The primary mission of the future USS St. Louis will be mine warfare. LCS Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Mission Package (MP) aboard LCS vessels supports MCM operations through the employment of aviation assets and unmanned surface, semi-submersible and submersible vehicles that are equipped with an array of sensors and systems to detect, localize and neutralize surface, near surface, in-volume and bottom mines. These systems are designed to be employed while the ship remains outside the mine threat area, which means the Sailor is out of harm’s way too. The MCM MP also provides the capability to sweep mines and detect beach zone and buried mines.
St. Louis is currently in Marinette, Wisconsin. Once the ship has gone through all its appropriate trials and is commissioned, it will be homeported in Mayport, Florida.
| Date Taken: | 07.23.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2019 13:44 |
| Story ID: | 332805 |
| Location: | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 306 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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