The US Navy has decommissioned its Independence-class littoral combat ship, USS Coronado (LCS 4), at Naval Base San Diego in California.
The decommissioning of the vessel was marked by a ceremony conducted on 14 September. According to the reports published in naval-technology.com
LCS 4 was constructed by Austal USA at its facility in Mobile, Alabama. It entered service with the US Navy in April 2014 at Naval Air Station North Island.
After decommissioning, LCS 4 will now be designated as ‘Out of Commission, In Reserve (OCIR)’ asset, while its crew will receive follow-on orders for resuming new assignments.
Expeditionary Strike Group 3 commander rear admiral Wayne Baze said: “Today, we recognise the great contribution Coronado and its crew made in developing the operational concepts foundational to current configuration and deployment of LCS.”
LC4 was the third US Navy vessel to bear this name.
During its over eight years of service, USS Coronado carried out various missions, such as deployment with the US Seventh Fleet, integration with carrier strike group, participating in exercises, and conducting joint manoeuvres with other US Navy warships.
It served as an operational unit for defending the country’s maritime freedom.
LCS 4 and its crew also served as a test and training ship, showcasing the US Navy’s operational configuration and deployment capabilities.
In 2017, the vessel was deployed to the Indo-Pacific region for a 14-month rotational deployment, alongside allied and partner nation forces.
Furthermore, this Independence-variant LCS was also a proven platform to provide tactical advantages.
It was used to demonstrate the LCS crewed-uncrewed teaming concepts in targeting exercises with an MQ-8B Fire Scout uncrewed aerial system.
