The U.S. Navy commissioning ceremony of its newest Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, the USS Wichita, from Naval Station Mayport, Fla., near Jacksonville, where the ship will be homeported.

U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas delivered the commissioning ceremony's principal address. Kate Lehrer, author and wife of Wichita native Jim Lehrer, the former anchor of “The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour” on PBS, is the ship’s sponsor. The ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when Mrs. Lehrer gives the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”