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U.S. Navy’s newest combat ship will be named after city of Santa Barbara

The Secretary of Navy Richard V. Spencer announced on Thursday, Oct. 11, that the next Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship will be named “USS Santa Barbara,” also referred to as LCS 32.

The latest combat ship from the U.S. Navy is, of course, named in honor of the city of Santa Barbara, and is the third ship to bear the name.

“This city’s innovative workforce and longstanding support of our Navy and Marine Corps team, whether active duty, reserve force, civilian or Veterans, the support from this community strengthens our Navy and nation,” said Spencer.

“The community itself has always been super supportive of the Navy and when the Santa Barbara Navy League has been bringing ships here for ship visits it’s always been great the community at large has come out and support of the Navy so we think having a ship named in honor of the city itself is just all the more exciting,” said Kevin McTague, Santa Barbara Navy League President.

Navy officials explain that an Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is a “modular, reconfigurable ship, designed to meet validated fleet requirements for surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral region.”

The ship will be built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama and will be 421-feet long with a beam length of 103.7-feet. The ship will be capable of operating at speeds of over 40 knots, officials say.

“It’s a very stealth looking type hull and it’s about 430 feet long and one of its more interesting features is that it’s very fast. It has a cruising speed of over 40 knots,” said McTague.

Speaking of speed, the Santa Barbara Navy League’s President was quick to reach out to the Navy, expressing their interest in being involved with the USS Santa Barbara.

“In the past, the Santa Barbara Navy League has commissioned the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS California and of course being Santa Barbara, we would like to be considered for this commissioning,” said McTague.

McTague wants to bring the next Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship to life.

“Part of that is to raise funds for the ceremony itself but also to provide creature comfort’s for the ship and it’s crew and to continue on once it’s commissioned in the moral support of the crew and it’s families,” said McTague

McTague is looking at having a representative from the Navy, perhaps a Commanding Officer, to visit Santa Barbara soon for a public forum and discussion.

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