USS Coronado (LCS-4)
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USS ''Coronado'' (LCS-4) is an . She is the third ship of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
to be named after
Coronado, California Coronado (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort town, resort city in San Diego County, California, United States, across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population ...
.


Design

In 2002, the US Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of
littoral combat ship A littoral combat ship (LCS) is either of two classes of relatively small surface vessels designed for littoral warfare in near-shore operations by the United States Navy. It was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface comba ...
s. The Navy initially ordered two
trimaran A trimaran (or double-outrigger) is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls (or "floats") which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recrea ...
hulled ships from
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, which became known as the ''Independence''-class after the first ship of the class, . Even-numbered US Navy littoral combat ships are built using the ''Independence''-class trimaran design, while odd-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the conventional monohull . The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the ''Independence''-class design. These vessels were designed to be outfitted with reconfigurable payloads, called mission packages, which can be changed out quickly. Mission packages are supported by special detachments that will deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors. ''Coronado'' is the second ''Independence''-class littoral combat ship, she was built by Austal USA in
Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...
. ''Coronado'' is the first ''Independence''-class ship to carry standard
rigid-hulled inflatable boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid-hull inflatable boat or rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB), is a lightweight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a rigid hull (watercraft), hull bottom joined to side-forming a ...
s and improvements in corrosion protection and propulsion over the original ''Independence'' (LCS-2) design.


History


Construction and initial trials

The ship's keel was laid on 17 December 2009. She was launched and christened during a ceremony in
Mobile Bay Mobile Bay ( ) is a shallow inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, lying within the state of Alabama in the United States. Its mouth is formed by the Fort Morgan Peninsula on the eastern side and Dauphin Island, a barrier island on the western side. T ...
on 14 January 2012 by the ship's sponsor Susan Keith, the daughter of Eleanor Ring, who christened in 1966. Fire is a concern on all the ''Independence''-class ships, and the delivery of ''Coronado'' was delayed by two fires during her builder's trials. USS ''Coronado'' was delivered on 27 September 2013, and she departed the Austal USA shipyard on 27 January 2014, en route to her commissioning site in
Coronado, California Coronado (Spanish language, Spanish for "Crowned") is a resort town, resort city in San Diego County, California, United States, across San Diego Bay from downtown San Diego. It was founded in the 1880s and incorporated in 1890. Its population ...
. She was commissioned on 5 April 2014, and assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One in
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
. On 30 April 2014, the LCS Mission Modules (MM) program successfully completed the first Structural Test Firing (STF) of the 30 mm gun mission module aboard ''Coronado''. The test consisted of installing two 30 mm guns, mission package software, and associated test equipment, loading live ammunition, and conducting three live fire scenarios: gun operations; worst case blast loading; and sustained fire. Multiple tracking exercises using high-speed maneuvering surface targets to simulate single and swarm-boat attacks were the following day. Surface warfare tracking and live fire exercises were scheduled in summer 2014, culminating in initial operational test and evaluation in 2015. ''Coronado'' is the first ''Independence''-class LCS to undergo firings of the 30 mm cannons of the surface warfare mission package. In late July 2014, the Navy confirmed ''Coronado'' would test-launch the Norwegian
Naval Strike Missile The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is an anti-ship and land-attack missile developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA). The original Norwegian name was ''Nytt sjømålsmissil'' (literally "New sea target missile", indic ...
in September. Although there is no current requirement for the missile aboard Littoral Combat Ships, it is significantly larger than the
AGM-114 Hellfire The AGM-114 Hellfire is an American missile developed for anti-armor use, later developed for precision drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets. It was originally developed under the name " Heliborne laser, fi ...
missile slated to be integrated onto the ship classes, and the Navy is testing its feasibility in an increased anti-surface warfare role for the ships. The test was meant to provide insight into the missile's capabilities, see if it could fit aboard the ship, and review the detect-to-engage sequence of firing a long-range weapon from an LCS. The test occurred on 24 September 2014. The missile was successfully fired from a launcher positioned on ship's flight deck at a mobile ship target. In mid-August 2014, ''Coronado'' demonstrated the ability to rapidly stage and deploy
US Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expedi ...
ground units. Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons 469 and
303 __NOTOC__ Year 303 ( CCCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. It was known in the Roman Empire as the Year of the Consulship of Diocletian and Maximian (or, less frequently, year 1056 ''Ab urbe condita''). The deno ...
conducted day and night deck-landing qualifications in preparation for an airborne raid. The ''Independence''-class LCS' features of high speed, a large flight deck, and configurable mission bay can support air and small-boat employment and delivery of Marine ground and air tactical units; a small Marine ground unit can be carried with an embarked mission module. On 16 October 2014, the Navy announced ''Coronado'' conducted dynamic interface testing with the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. The tests familiarized the crew with operating the unmanned aircraft, verified and expanded launch and recovery envelopes, and identified opportunities for envelope expansion to demonstrate future concepts of operations for the aircraft aboard an LCS using the Fire Scout in all three mission packages. Final Contract Trials (FCT) for the ship were completed in June 2014, and ''Coronado'' was scheduled to begin Post Shakedown Availability in October 2014.


Active service: 2016–2022

On 19 July 2016, while participating in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, ''Coronado'' conducted a live-fire missile test of a Block 1C Harpoon
anti-ship missile An anti-ship missile (AShM or ASM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. ...
. While the missile failed to destroy its target, the test validated the ability to launch high-powered missiles from the forward deck of a littoral combat ship. On 16 October 2016, ''Coronado'' arrived in Singapore for a scheduled rotational deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. This was the first ''Independence''-class LCS deployment to the region, the first deployment of the MQ-8B fitted with the Telephonics AN/ZPY-4(V)1 radar, and the first deployment of an LCS platform with an over-the-horizon anti-ship capability in the form of a four-cell RGM-84D Harpoon Block 1C missile launcher. On 29 June 2018, the U.S. Navy completed a comprehensive underway initial operational test and evaluation (IOT&E) for the Northrop Grumman MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned
helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...
by a detachment of Air Test and Evaluation Squadron One (VX-1) embarked on ''Coronado''. The testing included examination of the MQ-8C's ability to work with the ship and with manned helicopters, developing practices for simultaneously operating and maintaining both the MQ-8C and the MH-60S Seahawk helicopter aboard ship which demonstrated that simultaneous operations of the two aircraft were possible, and conducting shipboard maintenance of both the MQ-8C and the MH-60S. ''Coronado'' then continued pierside testing of the MQ-8C until mid-July 2018, with a focus on maintenance and cybertechnology issues. In February 2020, the Navy announced the retirement of both ''Independence'' and ''Coronado'' after ten and six years of service, respectively. The decision came after the Navy discovered cracks in the hull in late 2019, which were exacerbated when the ship sailed at speeds greater than in heavy seas. Evaluations of other ''Independence''-class ships have revealed a further five hulls that are suffering from the same problem, out of the first thirteen vessels of the class. Those other vessels remain in service, albeit with limitations imposed on top speeds in higher sea states. On 17 March 2020,
United States Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harborâ ...
reported a crew member of ''Coronado'' tested 'positive' for COVID-19, one of the initial ships in the US Navy to report a case. The ''Coronado'' crew were at their home port in San Diego, so the sailor quarantined at home. By , a further eight sailors had tested positive and over thirty had been quarantined in an attempt to contain the spread of the virus. On 20 June 2020, the US Navy announced they would be taking ''Coronado'' out of commission in March 2021, and placing her, along with the littoral combat ships , ''Independence'', and in reserve. The ship's decommissioning was deferred, and on 18 June 2021, ''Naval News'' reported that ''Coronado'' would be inactivated in FY 2022 and put on the Out of Commission in Reserve (OCIR) list. ''Coronado'' nevertheless took part in Portland Fleet Week 2022, on 8–12 June, along with destroyer , three
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cutters and a pair of
Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...
ships. ''Coronado'' was decommissioned on 14 September 2022 at
San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
. As of February 2024, the ship is docked at the
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, officially Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PSNS & IMF), is a United States Navy shipyard covering 179 acres (0.7 km2) on Puget Sound at Bremerton, Washington in uninterrupted ...
in
Bremerton, Washington Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, Kitsap County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 43,505 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and an estimated 44,122 in 2021, making it the largest city ...
.


References

*


External links


Official page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coronado (LCS-4) Independence-class littoral combat ships Ships built in Mobile, Alabama Coronado, California 2012 ships Naval ships involved in the COVID-19 pandemic