The US Navy was forced to redefine the entirety
of its strategy at the dawn of the new millennium. Left with mighty Cold War-era
vessels to engage tiny pirate boats, the service desperately needed to change scopes. Thus was born the Independence-class
of littoral combat ships built for a new program of nearshore operations
and with a design so unique that the Navy had no choice but to purchase
the model as well as its competitor. The trimaran has so far surpassed the
Navy’s requirements for the new role, with an angled and strange-looking silhouette that enables a smooth performance that
previous generations could only dream of. The sky's the limit for the groundbreaking model, but the US Navy expects it to fully
redefine the future of maritime warfare… New Beginnings The US Navy was abruptly deprived
of an objective in the 1990s. After the fall of the Soviet Union and the
end of the Cold War, the sea service’s huge, sea-going ships suddenly lost their main
opponent and were left without a purpose. Instead of fighting the powerful Soviet
fleet, they now had to focus on minor threats, like pirates and smugglers raiding the coasts in
small vessels. Thus, the Navy’s ships became too hefty and utterly unaffordable - not to mention
vulnerable when engaging small and nimble ships. The first proposed solution was the DD21
cruisers, but they were soon deemed too expensive. Consequently, military developers
focused on the creation of a simpler, lighter, and cheaper model: the
littoral combat ships, or LCS. Planning for the design that would eventually
become the Independence class started in the early 2000s, and in the summer of 2003, the
Navy approved a proposal for two vessels submitted by General Dynamics and Austal USA,
a subsidiary of the Australian shipbuilder. These ships would later be compared to
another two models by Lockheed Martin. The Navy wanted to select a determined design
for a production batch of up to 55 examples. However, the differences between
both proposals were so definitive that the service ended up purchasing both. Independence, the first of her class, was laid
down in Mobile, Alabama, in early 2006, and her younger sister, Coronado, followed in late 2009.
That December, the older sister was launched. The US Navy planned to build a fleet of agile,
multipurpose warships for the role in nearshore operations, and its expectations
are set on the Independence class, which might just become one of the most
mass-produced ships in the service’s history. Bifurcation The Independence-class design
evolved from an older project. Austal had already created a high-speed, 40-knot
cruise ship with a characteristic hull - a trimaran. Not only did the cruise design aim for
speed, but also stability and passenger comfort. The engineering team determined that the uncommon
trimaran hull could offer significant comfort, as well as stability advantages over other
more conventional hull architectures. Soon, the project morphed into a
commercial high-speed trimaran ferry: the HSC Benchijigua Express. This derived joint
project was submitted for the competition. With a length of 418 feet, a beam of 104 feet, and
a draft of 13 feet, the ships have a standard crew complement of 40. However, depending on the
task at hand, it is possible to augment the company with mission-specific personnel,
with the bunks located under the bridge. The Independence class has a displacement
of 2,377 tons light and 3,228 tons full. Also, the trimaran layout allows a total
surface area increase without sacrificing a sustainable speed of about 50 knots. As for
range, the ships can travel 10,000 nautical miles with a claimed efficiency of a third
less fuel than the competing Freedom class. Both classes were delivered
before the designs matured, so improvements could be easily
implemented as future ships were built. In fact, the ships became larger and more
expensive as their development progressed. New tasks, weapons, and equipment emerged,
and they were now required to cross oceans, sail at considerable speed, fight submarines, conduct reconnaissance missions, transport troops,
and accommodate aircraft, among other roles. Pros and Cons The trimaran structure inherently
carries advantages and disadvantages. Notably, the three hulls provide more stability
while sailing and allow for a larger deck surface. Moreover, the hydrodynamical design
also moderately increases speed. In contrast, the model requires
much greater structural strength, as rough waves create a heavy load in the
beams connecting the hulls. It is also considerably more expensive and challenging to
construct a trimaran than a conventional ship. Still, the LCS program's most significant issue
was the lack of bridge wings in the Independence class, and the wings had to be retrofitted
onto existing examples for safety matters. On the other hand, the ships’ lightweight
aluminum frame renders them considerably more vulnerable to damage than their
competitors, and the model required an improved cathodic protection system
for enhanced corrosion protection. Like her competition, the Independence vessels
needed axial flow water jets to push the water parallel to the impeller’s shaft, improving
efficiency and reducing maintenance. Plus, they had to be upgraded to handle the sheer
horsepower of their gas turbine propulsion system. Meanwhile, a winch control reduces the reliance
on manual handbrakes to modulate the motion of the anchor, and rather than using traditional steering
wheels, the helm is controlled by joysticks. Still, the mission bay side door will need
to be redesigned for reliability purposes, as will the platform lift elevator to
better handle weapons and ordnance. The odd-looking vessel slides smoothly
over the water, with its futuristic angled profile above the waterline. Her minimal
protruding parts reduce radar visibility, and it has an especially narrow
bow that resembles a beak. Notably, however, this unusual scheme
allows for top-notch performance. Shapeshifter As a littoral combat ship, the Liberty
class can be reconfigured for various roles. Each mission package includes modular equipment, such as weapon systems and sensors,
and specialized craft and crews. Among available modules, there
are anti-submarine warfare, mine countermeasures, surface warfare,
and special warfare missions. Therefore, module changes allow a single ship to change roles
in merely hours at any given commercial port. As such, the Independence class rapidly
optimizes effectiveness against upcoming threats. However, a report from the Office of the
Chief of Naval Operations published in the early 2010s claimed that the changes could
take as long as weeks due to logistics reasons. Moreover, the report foresaw that the Navy
would plan to use LCS with a single module, relegating modular ships to rare occurrences. Incidentally, Independence took 96 hours to transition from countermine to
surface warfare modes in 2014. Two years later, the Navy announced
a radical change in operations and organization plans for its LCS fleet. The first two ships from each competing
class would be turned into training ships, leaving the remaining 24 to be
separated into six divisions. The three Freedom-class divisions would be
based in Mayport, Florida, while the other three Independence-class divisions would be based
on the opposite coast, in San Diego, California. Inevitably, the new arrangement did away
with the model’s signature interchangeable mission module concept, as each group
was tasked with a single mission set. Untraditional Fighting Ship Independence is worth 3,000
tons of weapons and technology. Carrying a default armament set for
self-defense and command and control, the model is unlike traditional
fighting ships with fixed armament. In contrast, Independence can be armed
with tailored mission modules configured for a single mission at a time. Modules
include manned aircraft, unmanned vehicles, off-board sensors, or mission-manning detachments. The ship is also armed with BAE System’s
57-millimeter Mach 110 cannon in the bow. Plus, Independence-class LCS has a missile
arsenal of eight Norwegian NSM missile launchers, 24 AGM-114L Hellfires, and Raytheon’s C-RAM
complex. As secondary armament, the ships include several 50-caliber machine guns and two
30-millimeter Mark 44 Bushmaster 2 chain guns. Remarkably, the vessel’s inner volume and
payload are more extensive than some destroyers, with 390,000 cubic feet. The space was
designed to carry out a mission while having a separate mission module in reserve.
As a result, the ship can execute multiple tasks without being refitted and serve as a
high-speed transport and maneuver platform. Also, the bay can store four lanes
of Strykers, armored Humvees, and their troops, and the elevator can
deliver packages as big as 20 feet long, which can be moved to the mission bay while
at sea. Likewise, a side access ramp enables vehicles to roll on and off a dock, including
the canceled Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle. Great Power By June of 2009, the construction of the lead
ship was running at over three times her budget, with a total projected cost of 704 million
dollars instead of the original 220 million. Still, the Navy deemed the program worthy,
and in 2010, the service ordered up to ten additional ships of both the Independence and
the Freedom classes, with an extra two by 2016. As planned, the first four vessels of the
LCS program would be used as test ships. The Navy had nine commissioned ships by
the summer of 2019. But the career of Independence took an unexpected
twist when she retired early. In June of 2020, the sea service realized it would
be too expensive to upgrade the first four ships to match their younger sisters and decided
to take them all out of commission shortly. After merely 11 years of service, Independence
left the fleet in a small pier-side ceremony in San Diego on July 29, 2021 - well
before her expected 25 years of service. The Navy was unequivocal in its decision, alleging the quartet could not be enhanced for
a new era of: (QUOTE) “Great power competition.” In truth, the upgrade would cost
the service 2.5 billion dollars, an amount better allocated to the
emerging Constellation-class frigate. Independence is now part of the reserve fleet, having opened the way for her successors
into a new kind of maritime warfare. Thanks for watching our video! Please hit the
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