USS Tulsa (LCS-16)

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

USS Tulsa (LCS-16) is an Independence-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. She is the third ship to be named for Tulsa, second-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma.^[7][8]

USS Tulsa on 8 March 2018
History
United States
Name	Tulsa
Namesake	Tulsa, Oklahoma
Awarded	29 December 2010[1]
Builder	Austal USA[1]
Laid down	11 January 2016[1]
Launched	16 March 2017[2]
Sponsored by	Kathy Taylor[3]
Christened	11 February 2017[4]
Acquired	30 April 2018[5]
Commissioned	16 February 2019[6]
Homeport	San Diego
Identification	MMSI number: 368926114 Hull number: LCS-16
Motto	Tough, Able, Ready
Status	Active
Badge
General characteristics
Class & type	Independence-class littoral combat ship
Displacement	2,307 metric tons light, 3,104 metric tons full, 797 metric tons deadweight
Length	127.4 m (418 ft)
Beam	31.6 m (104 ft)
Draft	14 ft (4.27 m)
Propulsion	2× gas turbines, 2× diesel, 4× waterjets, retractable Azimuth thruster, 4× diesel generators
Speed	40 knots (74 km/h; 46 mph)+, 47 knots (54 mph; 87 km/h) sprint
Range	4,300 nautical miles (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)+
Capacity	210 tonnes
Complement	40 core crew (8 officers, 32 enlisted) plus up to 35 mission crew
Sensors & processing systems	Sea Giraffe 3D Surface/Air RADAR Bridgemaster-E Navigational RADAR AN/KAX-2 EO/IR sensor for GFC
Electronic warfare & decoys	EDO ES-3601 ESM 4× SRBOC rapid bloom chaff launchers
Armament	BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun 4× .50 cal (12.7 mm) guns (2 aft, 2 forward) Evolved SeaRAM 11 cell missile launcher Mission modules
Aircraft carried	2× MH-60R/S Seahawks

Design

In 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 career

Tulsa was constructed by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama.^[12] A keel laying ceremony, which usually signifies the startìng of ship construction, was held at the Austal shipyards in Mobile on 11 January 2016, but because the ship was assembled from prefabricated modules, Tulsa was already 60 percent complete at the time. Kathy Taylor, former mayor of Tulsa, served as ship's sponsor.^[3]

Tulsa was christened on 11 February 2017,^[4] launched on 16 March 2017,^[2] and commissioned on 16 February 2019.^[6] She has been assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One^[13]

Tulsa returned to San Diego on 30 July 2022 following deployment.^[14]