USS Cleveland (LCS-31)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Cleveland.

USS Cleveland (LCS-31) is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy.^[5] She is the fourth commissioned ship in naval service named after Cleveland, the second-largest city in Ohio.^[6]

Sister-ship USS Freedom underway on sea trials in February 2013
History
United States
Name	Cleveland
Namesake	City of Cleveland
Awarded	15 January 2019[1]
Builder	Marinette Marine
Laid down	16 June 2021[2]
Launched	15 April 2023[3]
Sponsored by	Robyn Modly[3]
Christened	15 April 2023[3]
Identification	Hull number: LCS-31
Motto	Forge a Legacy[4]
Status	Fitting Out
Badge
General characteristics
Class & type	Freedom-class littoral combat ship
Displacement	3,410 metric tons (3,760 short tons) full load[1]
Length	388 ft (118 m)[1]
Beam	58 ft (18 m)[1]
Draft	14 ft (4.3 m)[1]
Speed	>40 knots (46 mph; 74 km/h)
Complement	9 officers, 41 enlisted[1]

Design and build

In 2002, the US Navy began a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.^[7] The Navy initially ordered two monohull ships from Lockheed Martin, which became known as the Freedom-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class, USS Freedom.^[7][8] Odd-numbered US Navy littoral combat ships are built using the Freedom-class monohull design, while even-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the trimaran hull Independence-class littoral combat ship from General Dynamics.^[7] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Freedom-class design.^[7] Cleveland is the sixteenth Freedom-class littoral combat ship to be built.

Marinette Marine was awarded the contract to build the ship on 15 January 2019.^[1] Cleveland was launched on 14 April 2023.^[9][10] In a sideways launch, Cleveland was involved in a minor collision with a tugboat. No injuries were reported, and damage to Cleveland was "limited" and above the waterline. The shipyard intends to use a shiplift to transfer future ships to the water in a more controlled manner.^[11]