Watch CBS News

City To Hold Naming Ceremony For U.S. Navy Ship "USS Detroit"

DETROIT (WWJ) - U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., will join U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing on Monday for a naming ceremony for the sixth Navy ship to bear the name USS Detroit.

The USS Detroit will be the nation's seventh Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), a small ship that will be used for operations close to shorelines. The 378 foot-long USS Detroit will travel at an average speed of 40 knots, or about 46 miles per hour.  The last ship to bear the name was taken out of commission six years ago.

Monday's naming ceremony will take place at 3 p.m. at the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority, 130 East Atwater Street along the Detroit River.

The LCS is designed to defeat growing littoral threats and provide access and dominance in the coastal waters. A fast, agile surface combatant, the LCS provides the required war fighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute focused missions close to the shore such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare.

The ship will be built at Marinette Marine, on the border of the Upper Peninsula and Wisconsin, along with nine other ships. The construction is estimated to create more than 3,000 Michigan jobs.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.