U.S. Navy Decommissions its Sixth Freedom-Class Littoral Combat Ship

The U.S. Navy has decommissioned the Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Forth Worth (LCS-3), the latest in the series to exit service early. The vessel was the second Freedom-class built, and had been originally expected to serve for at least 11 more years.

"By retiring early-hull test platforms like Fort Worth, the Navy redirects investments toward upgrading the remaining LCS inventory with enhanced capabilities," the Navy said in a statement. "This strategy sustains the LCS program and underscores the Navy's commitment to building America's Fleet of the Future, ensuring the active ships remain relevant, combat-credible, and reliable throughout their service lives."

Fort Worth’s last Commanding Officer, Cmdr. Dana Canby, expressed his thanks to the "Rough Riders" crew for their service aboard the vessel.

“To the last Rough Riders, I’m incredibly proud of the work you’ve put into the ship through really challenging circumstances, and I am so excited to hear about the great things you’re going to do as you go to your next ships,” said Canby. “As Fort Worth sails into the sunset, these Rough Riders will carry on the ship’s legacy; they will move on to make other ships and the Navy more lethal and more capable.”

USS Fort Worth was one of the four hulls redesignated as "test ship" in 2016, part of the Navy's decision to refocus its "mission package" plans for the LCS platform and transition to dedicated, single-purpose uses for each class - mine countermeasures for the Independence-class, and antisubmarine warfare for the Freedom-class. The first two hulls in each class would become non-deploying assets and would be used to test out the equipment and tactics for their respective mission sets.

In 2019, the Navy proposed decommissioning all four of these test ships as a cost-saving measure, including Fort Worth. The list continued to expand: In 2022, then-CNO Adm. Mike Gilday proposed decommissioning the first nine Freedom-class hulls - the entirety of the delivered class at the time - as their sonar package had failed to mature. Ultimately five were selected for early removal from the fleet.

The Freedom-class has had to overcome many issues - high contractor maintenance costs, high crew workload, high underwater radiated noise, questions over shock tolerance and survivability, and a class-wide propulsion vulnerability. The last issue was resolved with a revised gearbox, which has been installed on more recent examples of the vessel. In-service ships of the series have proven their value in anti-narcotics operations in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, but their high rate of fuel consumption limits range and loiter time.

The final hull in the series, USS Cleveland, was delivered in May; the shipbuilder is now pivoting to other U.S. Navy priority projects.