Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Vinson | 241125-N-OZ224-1017 NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. (Nov. 25, 2024) - The Navy’s...... read more read more
NAVAL STATION MAYPORT (Nov. 25, 2024) – Freedom-variant littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Nantucket (LCS 27) to homeport in Mayport, Fla., November 25.
After 15 locks, four Great Lakes, three port visits, and over 2,500 nautical miles traveled, USS Nantucket (LCS 27) and her mighty crew at last arrived in the Atlantic Ocean, continuing her transit to its future homeport, Naval Station Mayport, Florida.
The road to make it to the Atlantic Ocean included months of preparation from the crew. In less than two months after moving onboard in August, the crew certified in several mission areas required to safely operate and get underway including: Search and Rescue, Navigation, Damage Control, Communications and Engineering.
"I’m very proud of the work this crew has done over the last seven months. They have showed determination and resiliency throughout the training and certification phase,” said Cmdr. Kari Yakubisin, Nantucket’s commanding officer. “Their hard work is evident in the safe execution of each operation.”
Each evolution, although involving different departments on the ship, required careful coordination and support from each division and Sailor onboard and was necessary for the crew to be able to set sail from Marinette, Wisconsin, towards the site of its commissioning ceremony in Boston, Massachusetts.
On November 16, the crew took the order to “man the ship and bring her to life.” Amongst thousands of onlookers, the ship made its much anticipated transition from pre-commissioned unit to United States Ship and began her sail around home.
Her commissioning festivities included a crew visit to their namesake town of Nantucket, a Chairman’s dinner hosted by the Commandant, and a commissioning ceremony held on the same pier as the Navy’s oldest commissioned ship, the USS Constitution. Along the way, she stopped in Cleveland, Ohio, Quebec City, Quebec and Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Norfolk for refueling, stores replenishment and liberty for the crew.
“It’s been a journey to watch us as a crew come together and be able to finally sail our ship home,” said Engineman Petty Officer First Class Marshal Tripp, USS Nantucket’s Sailor of the Year! “We all have worked hard to complete the mission and now are happy to be coming back to our families.”
With the last port fading in the rear only a few hundred nautical miles remain before Jacksonville is within view, the crew is eagerly awaiting returning to their families and friends, and ready to take on the next mission that will come their way as the Navy’s newest warship join the fleet!
LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric "anti-access" threats and is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence.
For more news from Commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two, visit https://www.surflant.usff.navy.mil/lcsron2/ or follow on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/comlcsron2/
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| Date Taken: | 11.25.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.25.2024 17:05 |
| Story ID: | 486129 |
| Location: | MAYPORT, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 68 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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Littoral combat ship (LCS)
