The following is text of a news release from Austal USA:
(MOBILE, Ala.) — Austal USA has announced that the name of littoral combat ship 34 is USS Augusta (LCS 34) after the city of Augusta, Maine.
The name was revealed Thursday by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King. LCS 34 will be built at Austal USA’s manufacturing facility in Mobile, Ala., with start of construction scheduled for 2020.
“Maine is a state with a rich patriotic history and it gives us great pleasure to build a small surface combatant that will carry the name of its capital city,” said Austal USA President Craig Perciavalle.
The city of Augusta was named after the daughter of American Revolutionary War hero Henry Dearborn, who rose through the officer ranks and fought with Gen. George Washington in the Continental Army against the British.
With five Independence-variant littoral combat ships currently under construction and a sixth, LCS 30, set to begin construction next month, the future USS Augusta is the 17th LCS to be built at Austal USA’s facility in Mobile.
The ships are 419 feet long with a beam of 104 feet and are capable of operating at speeds in excess of 40 knots.
