{"id":38388,"date":"2022-10-05T19:32:13","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T19:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/10\/05\/this-lcs-just-completed-an-historic-deployment\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:56:47","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:56:47","slug":"this-lcs-just-completed-an-historic-deployment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/naval\/2022\/10\/05\/this-lcs-just-completed-an-historic-deployment\/","title":{"rendered":"This LCS just completed an \u2018historic\u2019 deployment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The littoral combat ship Sioux City recently completed what the Navy is calling an \u201chistoric\u201d deployment that saw the Florida-based ship become the first LCS to operate in the waters of U.S. 6th Fleet and U.S. 5th Fleet during a five-month cruise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sioux City\u2019s blue crew returned to Mayport on Oct. 2. Along the way, the ship\u2019s deployment revealed how the Freedom class of LCS can still conduct operations, even as most of that class of ships are awaiting modifications to their combining gear, a class-wide design flaw that first emerged in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An LCS\u2019s combining gear connects the ship\u2019s diesel engines to gas turbines that provide a power boost, goosing the ship\u2019s top speeds in the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the combining gear issue has hobbled the ship class to an extent, officials now say they have figured out a workaround to keep those LCS operational, even as existing ships await modifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sioux City steamed 28,000 nautical miles during its deployment, and achieved speeds of more than 30 knots, all without receiving the combining gear fix or damaging that system, according to Cmdr. Scott Whitworth, the commanding officer of the ship\u2019s blue crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\t