USS Augusta (LCS-34)

In 2002, the United States Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.[8] The Navy initially ordered two trimaran hulled ships from General Dynamics, which became known as the Independence-class littoral combat ship after the first ship of the class, USS Independence.[8] 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 Freedom-class littoral combat ship.[8] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence-class design.[8] On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence-class littoral combat ships.[9][10]

Augusta was built in Mobile, Alabama by Austal USA.[11] Austal USA delivered the ship to the Navy, in Mobile on 12 May 2023.[4] She joined the active fleet with a commissioning ceremony in Eastport, Maine on 30 September 2023.[12]

• This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.