USS Detroit Commissioning Moved Back a Month

Detroit, MI — A busy shipyard and ongoing sea trials are good for the local Marinette, WI, economy, as well as the USS Detroit crew training regimen — but it has also caused the much-anticipated ship commissioning on the General Motors Riverwalk at the Renaissance Center to be pushed back one month, from Sept. 17 to Oct. 22.

“It’s good news, bad news,” John Peracchio, chairman of the USS Detroit Commissioning Committee. “On one hand, we’re excited and can’t wait to see the ship dock at the Ren Cen, become part of the Detroit and Windsor shoreline — and then make history by being commissioned here in Detroit. On the other hand, the added month adds to the anticipation and gets more people involved.”

All ship commissioning dates are always moving targets and subject to change because of the many activities involved in the construction and sea/acceptance trials of a modern warship, Peracchio explained.

“Additional variables include weather, multiple schedules, testing/validation process requirements and myriad activities that must occur sequentially,” he said.

In addition to the shipyard having several other LCS-class ships in various stages of construction, the Navy is also commissioning five other ships during the same approximate time period.

A freedom-class littoral combat ship, the new, high-tech USS Detroit is the sixth U.S. Navy warship to bear the city’s name. The ship is a fast and agile and designed for a variety of missions in coastal waters as well as humanitarian relief missions. Capable of open ocean operations, the ship's modular design supports interchangeable mission packages, which will allow it to be reconfigured for antisubmarine warfare, mine warfare, or surface warfare missions as-needed.

A previous USS Detroit (CL 8), a light cruiser, was one of the few ships to to sail during the attack on Pearl Harbor and it earned six Battle Stars during World War II. The ship was moored with the battleship USS Missouri during the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay in 1945.

The new USS Detroit is being built at the Lockheed Martin Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin. The ship was launched and christened on Oct. 18, 2014 by Barbara Levin, the ship’s sponsor and wife of long serving retired U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, during ceremonies at the Marinette Marine Shipyard.

Images: Courtesy of USS Detroit Commissioning Committee