Surface Warfare Officer School Students And Instructors Visit USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul

NEWPORT, RI, UNITED STATES

06.23.2022

Courtesy Story

Commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron TWO

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND (23 June 2022) – Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) arrived in Newport, Rhode Island on 16 June, their first port of call on the Atlantic Ocean after transiting through the Great Lakes.

The purpose of the visit was not only to show instructors and students from the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) schoolhouse in Newport the ship’s capabilities underway. It was also an opportunity to introduce a wide of array of the commands on Naval Station Newport to the LCS community.

For several students from the LCS Officer of the Deck (OOD) course, it was their first time underway on the ship class they will head to serve on in the coming months. Unlike traditional Navy surface ships where the bridge is composed of several watch stations tasked with safely driving and navigating the ship, the minimally-manned Freedom and Independence Class LCS variants reduced the number of bridge watches to just two personnel. The OOD on an LCS is tasked with not only the traditional duties of the OOD, but also those of Conning Officer, Helm and Lee Helm. The traditional rudder and propellers are replaced by two combination levers which control the angles of the buckets for steering and also provide throttle. After a tour of the spaces on board, a few of the students were given the chance to drive the ship on the ocean and were able to compare the ship’s response to changes in bucket angles and throttles to those experienced in the simulators where they have been training for the past few weeks.

Also aboard during the underway was Dave Kane, who was instrumental in the creation of the six-week LCS OOD course at Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) over a decade ago. He currently serves as an instructor and taught several of the officers onboard Minneapolis-Saint Paul.

“It’s always gratifying to see the officers we have trained putting their skills to work, especially on Minneapolis-Saint Paul where there is a clear emphasis on competence, professionalism, and safety,” said Kane. “It helps us at SWOS develop a better and more relevant product for our customers-the fleet. For that, I want to thank the officers and crew of LCS 21 for your hospitality and your outstanding hamburgers! BZ!”

Following the ship’s return into port, the crew hosted tours for several commands in Newport including a class of perspective Department Heads, students from the Prospective Engineering Officer Course, Naval Undersea Warfare Command, Newport Staff Judge Advocate (JAG) with JAG Summer Interns, Naval Academy Preparatory School faculty and staff, Advanced Division Officer Course instructors, and students and instructors from the Naval Chaplaincy School.

LCS is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. It is designed to defeat asymmetric "anti-access" threats and is capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control, and deterrence.

• Date Taken: 06.23.2022
• Date Posted: 06.23.2022 15:00
• Story ID: 423628
• Location: NEWPORT, RI, US