p55 April 2015

My nephew Brian, a navy petty officer is stationed on the USS Independence LCS-2 (littoral combat ship) out of San Diego.  The ship was docked at Pensacola when I was there.  I got the chance to be taken on a tour of the ship by my nephew along with my 2 Pensacola grandchildren.  The ship is a high speed, small crew, corvette.  It can take on various missions, including finding and destroying mines, hunting submarines, fighting small ships, and other secret missions.  The ship is a trimaran design with a wide beam that supports a flight deck for helicopters, a large hanger, and a mission bay below.  It has two gas turbine powered water jets that can go 44 knots and faster.  lm is controlled by joysticks instead of steering wheels.