On February 13, 2018, Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer named the 14th ship of the FREEDOM-class Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) in honor of the maritime history of Nantucket, Massachusetts. USS NANTUCKET (LCS 27) will be the 4th US Navy ship to be named in honor of the island.

 

The town has a deep connection to sailing and maritime traditions, serving as a whaling hub in the 1800s and as the home of generations of American sailors since the town’s beginnings. In the late-18th and early-19th century, Nantucket was the whaling capital of the world and one of the wealthiest communities in America. A typical crew of 21 men on a 2 to 3 year voyage into the Pacific Ocean could kill and process 40 to 50 whales that rendered about 34 barrels of oil each. Between 1760 and 1869, Nantucket’s whaling fleet produced over 1 million barrels of oil from sperm whales alone. In addition to providing oil and candles for lighting homes, factories, and city streets across the country and overseas, the whaling industry produced oil for lubricating fine machinery, bones for corset busks, ingredients for perfume, and raw material for umbrella stays, shoe horns, fishing rods, etc.

 

Manned by a crew of 84 officers and enlisted personnel, the LCS is a transformational class of surface combatant designed to defeat growing asymmetric near-shore threats and provide access and dominance in the coastal water battlespace. A fast, maneuverable and networked surface combatant, the LCS provides the required warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility to execute focused missions including mine warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and surface warfare. Once commissioned in 2024, USS NANTUCKET will join other ships of the FREEDOM-variant as part of LCS Squadron Two based in Mayport, Florida. ​

 

Ship Statistics

 

Length:         387.6 feet

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Beam:          57.7 feet

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Displacement:  3,500 metric tons

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Speed:         40+ knots

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