USS Jackson (LCS-6) is an of the United States Navy, and the first ship to be named for Jackson, the capital of Mississippi.[1]
In 2002, the U.S. Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.[2] 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.[2] 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 .[2] The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence-class design.[2] On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence-class littoral combat ships.[3] [4]
Jackson is the third Independence-class littoral combat ship to be built. Jackson was built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. Jackson is the second Independence-class ship to carry standard 7m (23feet) long rigid-hulled inflatable boats and improvements in corrosion protection and propulsion over the original Independence (LCS-2) design.[4]
Construction of Jackson began on 1 August 2011 with the first cutting of aluminum at Austal USA's Modular Manufacturing facility in Mobile, Alabama.[5] The name of the ship was announced on 5 October 2011.[6] The ship was launched on 14 December 2013. Jackson was delivered to the Navy on 11 August 2015 and placed into service that day. The ship was commissioned in a 5 December 2015 ceremony at Gulfport, Mississippi.[7] She has been assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One[8]
Jackson underwent the first of three shock trials[9] in waters off Florida on 16 June 2016, and the last being reported having been completed the week prior to 20 July 2016.[10] A charge of 10000lb was set off at around 100yd with the ship wired with around 260 instruments to record the effects.[11]
On 23 May 2022, Jackson participated in the 28th Annual CARAT exercise with the Royal Thai Navy as a part of the Combined Task Force (CTF) 72. Jackson is attached to DESRON 7 and the US 7th Fleet. The MQ-8C Fire Scout unmanned helicopter was recently deployed on the ship.[12]
Jackson is scheduled to be decommissioned sometime in 2024.[13]