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USS Manchester (LCS-14)
USS Manchester (LCS-14) is an Independence-class littoral combat ship in the United States Navy. She is the second ship to be named for Manchester, New Hampshire.[7][8] DesignIn 2002, the United States Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.[9] The Navy initially ordered two trimaran hulled ships from General Dynamics, which became known as the Independence-class littoral combat ship after the first ship of the class, USS Independence.[9] Even-numbered U.S. Navy littoral combat ships are built using the Independence-class trimaran design, while odd-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the conventional monohull Freedom-class littoral combat ship.[9] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence-class design.[9] On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence-class littoral combat ships.[10][11] Construction and careerThe ship's keel was laid on 29 June 2015, at Mobile, Alabama.[1] The initials of New Hampshire senator Jeanne Shaheen, the ship's sponsor, were welded into the hull of Manchester during the traditional keel laying ceremony. Manchester was christened on 7 May 2016 and she was launched on 12 May 2016.[3][4] Manchester was commissioned on 26 May 2018.[6] She is assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One.[12] From March 2023 to 26 August 2023 a clandestine Wi-Fi network was operated for the benefit of the chiefs mess using a Starlink satellite dish.[13] References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS Manchester (LCS-14).
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