CINCINNATI — The U.S. Navy has approved the commissioning date for the future littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS 20), the commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in a July 25 release.
The Navy will commission Cincinnati on Oct. 5 in Gulfport, Mississippi. The commissioning ceremony signifies the acceptance for service and the entrance of a ship into the active fleet of the U. S. Navy.
Former U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker is the ship’s sponsor. As the sponsor, Pritzker leads the time-honored Navy tradition of giving the order during the ceremony to “man our ship and bring her to life!” At that moment, the commissioning pennant is hoisted, and Cincinnati becomes a ship of the fleet.
An Indianapolis native, Cmdr. Kurt Braeckel, is the commanding officer of Cincinnati.
Former Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced LCS 20 would be named for Cincinnati at the Cincinnati Reds baseball game on July 19, 2015.
LCS 20 will be the fifth ship in naval history to be named Cincinnati. The first played an integral part in the Civil War; the second enforced neutrality laws during the Cuban Revolution and saw service during the Spanish-American War; the third acted as a patrol and flagship during World War II; and the fourth, a Los Angeles-class submarine, was commissioned in 1978 and served during the Cold War.
LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions. The LCS class consists of two variants, the Freedom variant and the Independence variant. Cincinnati is a Freedom variant.
The future Cincinnati will be homeported at Naval Base San Diego.
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