Bridenstine: Navy Announces New Combat Ship, USS Tulsa

Congressman Jim Bridenstine Announces Naming of New Navy Ship the USS Tulsa

Washington, DC, June 6, 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Congressman Jim Bridenstine proudly announced today that Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus named the newest Littoral Combat Ship the USS Tulsa.

The Tulsa is an Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). It will be 419 feet long and have a beam length of 103.7 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 40 knots.

Congressman Bridenstine said, “The USS Tulsa will not only honor our city, but will also provide a very important strategic capability in modern warfare. These ships are designed to defeat growing littoral threats and provide access and dominance in the coastal waters. A fast, agile surface combatant, the LCS provides the required war fighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute focused missions close to the shore such as mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare and surface warfare.”

USS Tulsa (LCS 16) will be the second ship named for Oklahoma’s second-largest city. The previous USS Tulsa was commissioned in 1922 and decommissioned in 1946, after serving honorably in World War II.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced today the next three joint high speed vessels (JHSV) will be named USNS Yuma, USNS Bismarck and USNS Burlington, and two littoral combat ships (LCS) will be named USS Billings and USS Tulsa. Littoral combat ships are named to recognize cities that are one of the five most-populated communities in a state.

“It is my privilege as secretary of the Navy to name these ships after five great American cities,” said Mabus, “establishing a new connection and tradition that forms a bond between a city’s residents and the sailors and Marines who serve in its namesake ship. For decades to come, these ships will sail in the fleet, building partnerships and projecting power around the world.”

USS Tulsa is an Independence-variant littoral combat ship and is being built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.

Media may direct queries to the Navy Office of Information at 703-697-5342. For more news from Secretary of the Navy public affairs, visit www.navy.mil/SECNAV.

Additional information about joint high speed vessels is available online at http://ipv6.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=1400&ct=4

Additional information about littoral combat ships is available online at: http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=1650&ct=4

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Sheryl Kaufman
Communications Director
Congressman Jim Bridenstine, OK-1
202-225-2211 (office)