Commissioning Date for LCS ‘Freedom’ to be set today
August 18, 08 by TheFleetIf you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Source: Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter
MILWAUKEE — The USS Freedom Commissioning Committee and the Milwaukee Council of the Navy League of the United States will at 11 a.m. on Monday announce the commissioning date for the U.S. Navy ship Freedom (LCS-1), set by the secretary of the Navy, Donald C. Winter.
The news conference will be held at Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin, overlooking the harbor where Freedom will be commissioned. The ship’s commanding officers, elected officials and industry representatives are scheduled to be present. Freedom was built by the Lockheed Martin-led industry team that includes Gibbs & Cox, Marinette Marine and Bollinger Shipyards. DRS Power and Control Technologies Inc. of Milwaukee is a contractor for the project.
Christened by ship’s sponsor, Birgit Smith, at Wisconsin’s Marinette Marine Corporation shipyard on Sept. 23, 2006, Freedom is the first Navy ship of its type. Smith is the widow of U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Paul Ray Smith, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery and gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
For information on the commissioning of LCS 1, visit the committee’s Web site at www.ussfreedom.org.
