Overview
- USS Cleveland, commissioned Saturday in its namesake city, entered active service as the last Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship after Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao gave the order.
- The ship will sail to its homeport at Naval Station Mayport in Florida, where it will prepare for fleet training and future deployments.
- Cmdr. Bruce Hallett takes command as the ship’s first commanding officer, leading the crew as they bring the new vessel into service.
- Built by Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine, the ship was accepted by the Navy on November 26, 2025, as the 16th and final Freedom-variant delivered.
- The LCS program, designed for near-shore missions like mine hunting and sub chasing, shrank from a plan for up to 52 ships to 32 after transmission failures, hull cracks, high costs, and questions about combat survivability, and the Navy has decommissioned seven LCS and paused seven more retirements in January while its canceled Constellation-class replacement and newer concepts remain in flux.