Rounds: Navy Names Ship for South Dakota Capital City
New Littoral Combat Ship to be named USS Pierre
WASHINGTON—U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.) announced today that Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer has named the next Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship USS Pierre (LCS 38) in honor of the capital city of South Dakota.
“It’s an honor to have a Navy vessel named after our state’s capital city of Pierre,” said Rounds. “While we are about as far away from an ocean as you could get, South Dakotans have a long history of service to the Navy. USS South Dakota (SSN 790), the Navy’s newest Virginia-class nuclear attack submarine, was recently commissioned. South Dakota citizens are proud supporters of our military and we are thrilled to have USS Pierre join the Navy’s fleet.”
USS Pierre (LCS 38) will be the second ship to bear the name. It will be built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala. USS Pierre (LCS 38) will be 419 feet long and will be capable of operating at speeds of more than 40 knots. The Littoral Combat Ship is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship, designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare missions.
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