USS Oakland (LCS-24)

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]

Oakland was built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. A ceremonial laying of the keel was held at the Austal USA shipyards in Mobile on 20 July 2018. The ship was christened on 29 June 2019[3] and then launched on 21 July 2019.[2] She was delivered to the Navy on 26 June 2020,[4] and was commissioned on 17 April 2021.[5] The ship was in Honiara, Solomon Islands on 7 August 2022 for ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal.[11]

• 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.