The US Navy decommissioned the littoral combat ship (LCS) USS Sioux City (LCS 11) on 14 August 2023 after the ship had been in service for less than five years.
The Freedom-variant LCS was built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin, and commissioned on 17 November 2018 at the Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Sioux City completed four deployments: in December 2020, July 2021, December 2021 and October 2022.
It is known for being the first LCS to operate in US Fifth and Sixth fleets across the Atlantic where they participated in counter drug trafficking operations with the US Coast Guard.
It was also the first United States Navy Warship named after the city of Sioux City, Iowa.
The LCS program was split across the two variants, including steel-hulled Freedom-class built by Lockheed Martin at Fincantieri Marinette Marine (odd-numbered) and General Dynamics’ aluminum-hulled Independence-class (even-numbered) trimarans built by Austal USA.
Sioux City becomes the fourth LCS to be decommissioned, following the lead Freedom class ship, Freedom (LCS-1), and the first two Independence class ships, Independence (LCS-2) and Coronado (LCS-4).
The US Navy plans to scrap nine of a total 16 Freedom-class LCS well short of their planned service lives in order to save a projected $4.3 billion in upgrades and maintenance.
