US Navy Commissions 19th and Final Ship of Independence-Class

The United States Navy has commissioned the last Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship.

The Navy’s press service reported on this.

The ship in question is USS Pierre (LCS 38) – the final vessel in the 19-ship series.

This is the second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name USS Pierre: previously, it was the name of a PC-461-class submarine chaser that was decommissioned in 1958.

The LCS 38 was ordered on December 17, 2018, laid down on June 16, 2023, and launched on August 5, 2024.

After successfully completing acceptance trials on June 9, 2025, the documents transferring the ship to the Navy were signed on board.

Independence

Independence is a class of Littoral Combat Ships designed by the Australian company Austal under the LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) program. A total of 19 littoral combat ships of this type were built over 15 years.

The first four vessels of the LCS program were test platforms that were quickly removed from Navy service due to numerous issues.

The lead Independence-class ship, commissioned in 2010, was decommissioned on July 29, 2021. The second vessel, Coronado, served only eight years and was decommissioned on September 14, 2022.

The Independence-class ships are 127.2 meters long, 30.4 meters wide, have a draft of 4.5 meters, and a full displacement of 3,104 tons. A top speed of up to 44 knots is provided by two General Electric LM2500 gas turbines or two MTU Friedrichshafen 20V diesel engines.

The range does not exceed 4,300 nautical miles. The crew consists of 40 personnel, with an additional 35 able to embark as part of an augmented team.

The primary armament is a 57 mm Mk 110 gun from BAE Systems, RGM-184A (NSM) anti-ship missiles, and AGM-114L Hellfire missiles in the SUW vertical launch system. Air defense is provided by RIM-116 missiles.

In January 2025, the USS Santa Barbara (LCS 32) became the first Independence-class ship to gain mine countermeasure capabilities through the integration of a Mine Countermeasures (MCM) module, which is planned for its first deployment in 2025.

However, during testing of the module, it was discovered that not all of its components fit into the designated compartment on ships of this class. As a result, the U.S. Navy was forced to abandon the concept of full modularity with the ability to rapidly swap equipment for different mission types.