MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ) – A celebration in Marinette Saturday as another in the fleet of the Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships was christened and launched at Marinette Marine.
Finishing work on the USS Wichita will continue on the waters of the Menominee River.
Katie Leher, the ship’s sponsor, had the honor of busting the champagne bottle on the Wichita’s bow, sending it sliding into the river.
She wanted to make sure the bottle actually broke and admits to being a little nervous.
“Very scary, because they just said think of something that’s going to make you very angry”
Leher, who is from Wichita, was in Marinette for the “keel laying” of the ship back in February. But it was a lot colder then.
This time, Leher says she got to tour around Marinette-Menominee and loves the area.
She also came away impressed with the work ethic of the employees at Marinette Marine.
“I love the sense of everybody involved in this”
LCS 13 will undergo additional outfitting and testing at Fincantieri Marinette Marine before the ship’s delivery to the Navy next year.
U-S Congressman Reid Ribble believes the LCS program is in good shape for the future.
“Each of these ships are being built with fewer man hours, they’re built with less taxpayer money, and they’re being built better”
And Ribble, who is not running for re-election, says that includes potential changes in the make-up of Congress
“As long as the ship is performing and the Navy is reinforcing the fact that they want this…..it’s going to be there for a while”
Six other LCS’s are being built at Marinette Marine, 3 others are on the drawing board.
