USS Jackson (LCS-6)

	USS Jackson on 18 October 2021
History
United States
Name	Jackson
Namesake	Jackson
Awarded	29 December 2010
Builder	Austal USA
Laid down	18 October 2012
Launched	14 December 2013
Sponsored by	Dr. Kate Cochran
Acquired	11 August 2015
Commissioned	5 December 2015
Homeport	San Diego
Identification	MMSI number: 369970885; Hull number: LCS-6;
Motto	Victoribus Spolia; (To The Victors, The Spoils);
Status	Active
Badge
General characteristics
Class and 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 × General Electric LM2500 gas turbines; 4 × waterjets, retractable Azimuth thruster; 4 × diesel generators;
Speed	40+ knots, 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 and ; 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

USS Jackson (LCS-6) is an Independence-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy, and the first ship to be named for Jackson, the capital of Mississippi.^[1]^[4]

Design

In 2002, the U.S. Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.^[5] The Navy initially ordered two trimaran hulled ships from General Dynamics, which became known as the Independence-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class, USS Independence.^[5] 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.^[5] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence-class design.^[5] On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence-class littoral combat ships.^[6]^[7]

Jackson is the third Independence-class littoral combat ship to be built. Jackson was built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama.^[1] Jackson is the second Independence-class ship to carry standard 7 metres (23 ft) long rigid-hulled inflatable boats and improvements in corrosion protection and propulsion over the original Independence (LCS-2) design.^[7]

History

Construction of Jackson began on 1 August 2011 with the first cutting of aluminum at Austal USA's Modular Manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama.^[8] The name of the ship was announced on 5 October 2011.^[9] The ship was launched on 14 December 2013.^[2] Jackson was delivered to the Navy on 11 August 2015 and placed into service that day.^[2] The ship was commissioned in a 5 December 2015 ceremony at Gulfport, Mississippi.^[1]^[10] She has been assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One^[11]

Jackson underwent the first of three shock trials^[12] in waters off Florida on 16 June 2016, and the last being reported having been completed the week prior to 20 July 2016.^[13] A charge of 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) was set off at around 100 yards (91 m) with the ship wired with around 260 instruments to record the effects.^[14]

On 23 May 2022, Jackson participated in the 28th Annual CARAT exercise with the Royal Thai Navy as a part of the Combined Task Force (CTF) 72. Jackson is attached to DESRON 7 and the US 7th Fleet. The MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter was recently deployed on the ship.^[15]

Jackson is scheduled to be decommissioned sometime in 2024.^[16]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Church, Kathleen (7 December 2015). "USS Jackson (LCS 6) Commissioned" (Press release). Navy News Service. NNS151207-02. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l "USS Jackson (LCS 6)". Naval Vessel Register. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
^ "GE Marine's LM2500 gas turbines to power USS Jackson (LCS 6)". naval-technology.com. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
^ "Navy Names Littoral Combat Ships Jackson and Montgomery" (Press release). U.S. Department of Defense. 25 March 2011. 243-11. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "US Navy Fact File: Littoral Combat Ship Class – LCS". US Navy. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
^ Special from Navy Office of Information (29 December 2010). "Littoral Combat Ship Contract Award Announced" (Press release). Navy News Service. NNS101229-09. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
^ ^a ^b Osborn, Kris (27 June 2014). "Navy Engineers LCS Changes". www.dodbuzz.com. Monster. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
^ "Building of LCS moves forward". UPI. 5 August 2011. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
^ "U.S. Navy Christens Independence-Class Littoral Combat Ship USS Jackson". Shipbuilding Tribune. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 31 March 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
^ "Littoral combat ship USS Jackson commissioned in Gulfport". The Clarion Ledger. USA Today Network. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
^ "LCS Squadron 1". public.navy.mil. Archived from the original on 26 February 2018. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
^ "Simulated Ship Shock Tests/Trials". Institute for Defense Analyses. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.579.171.
^ Ziezulewicz, Geoff (20 July 2016). "USS Jackson completes full ship shock trials". United Press International. Retrieved 7 September 2016.
^ LCS Survives First Shock Test, Preps For More, Christopher P. Cavas, Defense News, 17 June 2016, accessed 20 June 2016
^ Bahtić, Fatima (26 May 2022). "US Navy and Royal Thai Navy conduct CARAT exercise". Navaltoday.com. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
^ Mongilio, Heather (27 September 2023). "Navy to Decommission Littoral Combat Ships USS Little Rock, USS Detroit This Week". USNI News. Retrieved 3 October 2023.

This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.