In its recent budget proposal, the Navy announced its intention to retire the first four Littoral Combat Ships (LCS)  — the USS Freedom, USS Independence,  USS Fort Worth, and USS Coronado — which range in age from twelve to only six years old.  

The LCS were supposed to be cheap, flexible and multipurpose vessels capable of operating primarily in coastal waters. They have turned out to be expensive, unreliable and incapable of doing anything well. Many in the blue-water Navy refer to the LCS as “Little Crappy Ships.”  The LCS have been described as the program that broke the Navy. 

Originally, the plan was to build 55 LCS of two very different designs. The number has been cut to 34, with 19 commissioned and 15 more under construction. The Freedom-class, a semi-planing steel monohull with an aluminum superstructure, has suffered chronic engine and gear failures as well as structural hull cracking. The Independence-class, an aluminum high-speed trimaran, has suffered serious corrosion problems as well as propulsion failures. 

The two LCS classes have set new records for failures. On its first deployment in 2013, the USS Freedom barely made it across the Pacific to Singapore after repeated electronic and mechanical failures. Once it reached Singapore it spent most of its time being repaired. 

In 2016, the three Freedom-class LCS in service achieved a 100% failure rate, each suffering major engine or propulsion gear failures. In 2018, of the eleven LCS commissioned, not one was capable of being deployed. Maintnecen and repairs kept the ships tied to the docks.

The first four LCS ships were effectively withdrawn from service for use as testing and training ships in 2016. Now, the Navy wants to retire them entirely. What the Navy will do with the other 30 or so LCS commissioned or under construction is unclear.   

Thanks to Bob Koski for contributing to this post.