The USS Cleveland will join the littoral combat squadron at Naval Station Mayport, the last of its kind, the Navy says. | U.S. Navy
Published on December 4, 2025 at 11:40 am
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The last littoral combat ship of its kind will be heading to Mayport Naval Station after the U.S. Navy accepted delivery from the manufacturer in Wisconsin.
When the USS Cleveland arrives in a year, it will become the ninth of its class based at LCS Squadron 2, the nation’s East Coast littoral base.
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The USS Cleveland is the 16th and final ship of the Freedom-variant class, a 388-foot-long warship that honors the city of Cleveland, where it will be officially commissioned in early 2026.
The LCS program was launched in 2002, a new class of fast, agile and versatile warships whose design incorporates modular mission packages designed to rapidly reconfigure them for a wide range of missions.
There are two types of littorals — the trimaran-hulled Independence Class based in California for Pacific Ocean missions, and the Freedom Class based at Mayport and used for Atlantic Ocean missions.
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Smaller than the destroyers and frigates at Navy bases, its modular mission packages can be swapped out depending on the operational needs, the Navy said.
History of the USS Cleveland
The keel for the USS Cleveland was laid in 2021, according to WKYC-TV in Cleveland. It was christened in May, according to a video posted by the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation, which supports the ship and crew during its service life.
The 3,400-ton ship, built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, was delivered to the Navy on Nov. 26 and will be commissioned next year, before it comes to Mayport.
The ship honors the city of Cleveland and will be the fourth to bear the name. The lineage began with a cruiser, commissioned in 1903 and serving during World War I until decommissioning in 1929.
The second USS Cleveland was a light cruiser that operated in World War II’s Pacific theater. The last namesake was an amphibious transport dock commissioned in 1976 and serving in Operation Desert Shield/Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom until its decommissioning in 2011.
Littorals usually carry a crew of 50. Some of those based at Mayport have seen serious action in recent years.
That includes September 2024, when the littoral combat ship USS Indianapolis was involved along with the USS Spruance and USS Stockdale, which intercepted a barrage of nearly two dozen missiles and drones from Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in the Middle East.
The ships were traveling through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea with the Gulf of Aden, according to a report from CNN.
