The U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command has confirmed that Freedom-class Littoral Combat Ship USS Detroit (LCS 7) sinks a vessel in the western Atlantic on November 23.
A Navy news release states that USS Detroit (LCS 7) sank derelict vessel encountered during deployment to the U.S. Southern Command’s area of responsibility. Also was released footage shows a sinking vessel that would constitute a hazard to navigation.
During this deployment to the Caribbean, Central and Latin American areas, USS Detroit, with an embarked helicopter and USCG law enforcement detachment, support Joint Interagency Task Force South’s mission, which includes counter-drug patrols and detection and monitoring of illicit traffic in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific.
The Littoral Combat Ship is the Navy’s newest class of warship. The Freedom-variant of LCS is a steel double chine advanced semi-planing monohull ship.
USS Detroit is capable of operating in a wide-range of environments, from the open ocean to coastal and littoral waters. LCS uses an open architecture design, modular weapons, sensor systems, and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles to gain and sustain maritime supremacy in the littorals, assuring access to critical areas of operation. In addition to its primary mission areas of Surface Warfare (SUW), Mine Counter Measures (MCM) and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) this warship also can conduct freedom of navigation operations, theater security cooperation operations, maritime law enforcement operations, maritime counter-piracy operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, search and rescue operations, maritime domain awareness patrols, and maritime security operations.
The Littoral Combat Ship designed as a focused-mission, modular, surface combatant smaller than a FFG but larger and more capable than a PC or MCM ship. LCS was envisioned to be an independently deployable, theater-based ship, capable of changing primary missions through modular Mission Package.
