USS Coronado (LCS-4)

USS Coronado (LCS-4) is an Independence-class littoral combat ship. She is the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after Coronado, California.[2]

For other ships with the same name, see USS Coronado.

USS Coronado (LCS-4)
Coronado in June 2017
History
United States
Name: Coronado
Namesake: Coronado, California[1][2]
Awarded: 1 May 2009[3][4]
Builder: Austal USA[3][4]
Laid down: 17 December 2009[3]
Launched: 14 January 2012[5]
Sponsored by: Susan Keith[2]
Christened: 14 January 2012[2]
Acquired: 27 September 2013[3]
Commissioned: 5 April 2014[2][3]
Homeport: San Diego, California
Identification: MMSI number: 367384340
Status: in active service
Badge:
General characteristics
Class and type: Independence-class littoral combat ship
Displacement: 2,307 metric tons light, 3,104 metric tons full, 797 metric tons deadweight[3]
Length: 127.4 m (418 ft)
Beam: 31.6 m (104 ft)[3]
Draft: 14 ft (4.27 m)[3]
Propulsion:
Speed: 40+ knots, 47 knots (54 mph; 87 km/h) sprint
Range: 4,300 nmi (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Capacity: 210 tonnes
Complement: 40 core crew (8 officers, 32 enlisted) plus up to 35 mission crew
Sensors and
processing systems:
  • Sea Giraffe 3D Surface/Air RADAR
  • Bridgemaster-E Navigational RADAR
  • AN/KAX-2 EO/IR sensor for GFC
Electronic warfare
& decoys:
  • EDO ES-3601 ESM
  • 4 × SRBOC rapid bloom chaff launchers
Armament:
  • BAE Systems Mk 110 57 mm gun
  • 4 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) guns (2 aft, 2 forward - see M2 Browning)
  • Evolved SeaRAM 11-cell missile launcher
  • Mission modules
Aircraft carried:
  • 2 × MH-60R/S Seahawks
  • MQ-8 Fire Scout

Design
Main article: Independence-class littoral combat ship

In 2002, the U.S. Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.[6] The Navy initially ordered two trimaran hulled ships from General Dynamics, which became known as the Independence-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class, USS Independence.[6] Even-numbered U.S. 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.[6] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence-class design.[6] These seaframes were designed be outfitted with reconfigurable payloads, called mission packages, which can be changed out quickly. Mission packages are supported by special detachments that will deploy manned and unmanned vehicles and sensors.[1][4]

Coronado is the second Independence-class littoral combat ship. Coronado was built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama.[2] Coronado is the first Independence-class ship to carry standard 7 metres (23 ft) long rigid-hulled inflatable boats and improvements in corrosion protection and propulsion over the original Independence (LCS-2) design.[7]

History
USS Coronado is floated out
USS Coronado undergoing final retrofit in Mobile Alabama

The ship's keel was laid on 17 December 2009.[8]

She was launched and christened during a ceremony in Mobile Bay on 14 January 2012 by Susan Keith, the daughter of Eleanor Ring who christened USS Coronado (AGF-11) in 1966.[9][10]

Fire is a concern on all the Independence-class ships,[11] and the delivery of Coronado was delayed by two fires during her builder's trials.[12] USS Coronado was delivered on 27 September 2013.[13] On 27 January 2014 Coronado departed the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, en route to her commissioning site in Coronado, California.[14] She was commissioned on 5 April 2014,[2] and assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One.[15]

On 30 April 2014, the LCS Mission Modules (MM) program successfully completed the first Structural Test Firing (STF) of the 30 mm gun mission module aboard USS Coronado. The test consisted of installing two 30 mm guns, mission package software, and associated test equipment, loading live ammunition, and conducting three live fire scenarios: gun operations; worst case blast loading; and sustained fire. Multiple tracking exercises using high speed maneuvering surface targets to simulate single and swarm boat attacks were also accomplished the following day. Surface warfare tracking and live fire exercises are scheduled in summer 2014, culminating in initial operational test and evaluation in 2015. Coronado is the first Independence-class LCS to undergo firings of the 30 mm cannons of the surface warfare mission package.[16]

In late July 2014, the Navy confirmed that Coronado would test-launch the Norwegian Naval Strike Missile in September. Although there is no current requirement for the missile aboard Littoral Combat Ships, it is significantly larger than the AGM-114 Hellfire missile slated to be integrated onto the ship classes, and the Navy is testing its feasibility in an increased anti-surface warfare role for the ships. The test was meant to provide insight into the missile's capabilities, see if it could fit aboard the ship, and review the detect-to-engage sequence of firing a long-range weapon from an LCS.[17] The test occurred on 24 September 2014. The missile was successfully fired from a launcher positioned on ship's flight deck at a mobile ship target.[18]

In mid-August 2014, Coronado demonstrated the ability to rapidly stage and deploy U.S. Marine Corps ground units. Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadrons 469 and 303 conducted day and night deck-landing qualifications in preparation for an airborne raid. The Independence LCS' features of high speed, a large flight deck, and reconfigurable mission bay can support air and small-boat employment and delivery of Marine ground and air tactical units; a small Marine ground unit can be carried even with an embarked mission module.[19]

On 16 October 2014, the Navy announced that Coronado conducted dynamic interface testing with the MQ-8B Fire Scout unmanned helicopter. The tests familiarized the crew with operating the unmanned aircraft, verified and expanded launch and recovery envelopes, and identified opportunities for envelope expansion to demonstrate future concepts of operations for the aircraft aboard an LCS, which will use the Fire Scout in all three mission packages. Final Contract Trials (FCT) for the ship were completed in June 2014, and Coronado is scheduled to begin Post Shakedown Availability in October 2014.[20]

On 19 July 2016, while participating in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, Coronado was used to conduct a live-fire missile test of a Block 1C Harpoon anti-ship missile.[21] While the missile failed to destroy its target, the test validated the ability to launch high-powered missiles from the forward deck of a littoral combat ship.[21]

On 16 October 2016, Coronado arrived in Singapore for a scheduled rotational deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. It was the first time an Independence-class LCS had been deployed to the region, the first deployment of the MQ-8B fitted with the Telephonics AN/ZPY-4(V)1 radar, and the first deployment of an LCS platform equipped with an over-the-horizon anti-ship capability, in the form of a four-cell RGM-84D Harpoon Block 1C missile launcher.[22][23]

In February 2020 it was announced that the Navy plans to retire Coronado and its sister ship Independence after 6 and 10 years of service respectively.[24]

2020 COVID-19 pandemic
Main article: COVID-19 pandemic on naval ships

On 17 March 2020, United States Pacific Fleet reported that a crew member of Coronado had tested positive that day.[25] Coronado was at its home port in San Diego, California at the time, and the sailor self-isolated at home.[25][26]

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References
  1. Department of the Navy (12 March 2009). "Navy Names Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado" (Press release). Navy News Service. NNS090312-19. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  2. Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Donnie W. Ryan, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs (5 April 2014). "USS Coronado Commissioned in Namesake City" (Press release). Navy News Service. NNS140405-05. Retrieved 10 December 2015.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Coronado (LCS 4)". Naval Vessel Register. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  4. Wilkinson, Kaija (1 May 2009). "Austal to build its second LCS for U.S. Navy; not yet clear if laid off employees will return". Press-Register. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  5. Reed, John (17 January 2012). "The Navy's Newest LCS Launches". DefenseTech.org. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  6. "US Navy Fact File: Littoral Combat Ship Class – LCS". US Navy. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  7. Osborn, Kris (27 June 2014). "Navy Engineers LCS Changes". www.dodbuzz.com. Monster. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  8. "General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship Team Delivers Independence (LCS 2) and Lays Keel for Coronado (LCS 4)" (Press release). PR Newswire. 18 December 2009. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  9. "USA: Austal Christens Independence-Variant Littoral Combat Ship Coronado". World Maritime News. 17 January 2012. Archived from the original on 18 January 2012.
  10. Austal USA (14 January 2012). "LCS-4 Christened Coronado" (Press release). Navy News Service. NNS120114-16. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  11. Scutro, Andrew (7 April 2009). "Next-gen ship: spacious feel, little steel". Navy Times. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  12. Cavas, Christopher P. (31 May 2013). "LCS matures, new missile coming". Navy Times. Retrieved 16 May 2015. (subscription required)
  13. "U.S. Navy Accepts Delivery of Future USS Coronado". World Maritime News. Retrieved 30 September 2013.
  14. PEO LCS Public Affairs (27 January 2014). "Future USS Coronado (LCS 4) Begins Sailaway" (Press release). Mobile, Alabama: Navy News Service. NNS140127-16. Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  15. "LCS Squadron 1". public.navy.mil. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  16. Naval Sea Systems Command (16 May 2014). "Structural Test Firing of Surface Warfare Gun Module on USS Coronado Successful" (Press release). Navy News Service. NNS140516-11. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  17. Cavas, Christopher P. (24 July 2014). "LCS to conduct test of Norwegian missile". Military Times. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  18. LeGrone, Sam (24 September 2014). "Norwegian Missile Test On Littoral Combat Ship Successful". USNI News. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  19. "Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) Conducts Integration Exercise with U.S. Marines". Navyrecognition.com. 21 August 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
  20. Program Executive Office, Littoral Combat Ships Public Affairs (16 October 2014). "USS Coronado (LCS 4) Conducts Dynamic Interface Testing with MQ-8B Fire Scout" (Press release). Navy News Service. NNS141016-15. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
  21. Lockie, Alex (21 July 2016). "A major element of US Naval strategy came to fruition in this 15-second clip". Business Insider. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  22. Wong, Kelvin (17 October 2016). "First Independence variant LCS arrives in Singapore for rotational deployment with Harpoon missile fit". Jane's Information Group. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  23. Littoral Combat Ship USS Coronado Arrives in Singapore - News.USNI.org, 18 October 2016
  24. Kyle Mizokami (12 February 2020). "The Navy Wants to Retire a Ship That's Only Six Years Old". Popular Mechanics. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  25. Affairs, From U. S. Pacific Fleet Public. "USS Coronado Sailor tests positive for COVID-19". cpf.navy.mil.
  26. "USS Coronado (LCS 4) history". uscarriers.net.
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