MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A celebration was held today at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard to honor a huge milestone.
The newest littoral combat ship was christened, and it means a lot for some people in one Wisconsin city.
“They had bus loads of individuals from Beloit coming up here,” said Steve Allen, vice president of Lockheed Martin. “It’s absolutely amazing for a smaller city to have the type of representation for the terms of the name sake for the ship.”
Veterans and people from Beloit make the 3-and-a-half hour trip to Marinette to see something never done before, a combat ship named for their city.
The Future USS Beloit is the 29th Littoral Combat Ship.
“I had the honor of making a few calls before the announcement was public just to give people a heads up and it was unbelievable,” said Senator Tammy Baldwin. “This is a long time coming with people and veterans from Beloit.”
The christening ceremony marks the transition of the ship from new construction, to the test and trials phase.
It’s celebrated by breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow of the boat, which was done by Beloit native and retired army major general, Marcia Anderson.
Building of the warship began in July 2020.
But the city’s relationship with the Navy began in 1938, when Fairbanks Morse in Beloit sold its first engine to the Navy.
Engines for the freedom-variant LCSs, like the USS Beloit, are built in the city still to this day.
CEO George Whitter of Fairbanks Morse, says it’s an honor.
“To finally have a shipped named after the town, it’s very emotional for not just the folks at Fairbanks Morse Defense, but the entire city of Beloit,” said Whitter. “We’ve been in the community for 150 years, and you really can’t take Beloit and Fairbanks Morse, they go together like peanut butter and jelly.”
The christening of the future USS Beloit comes after the Navy announced in April they may retire nine ships in the freedom-class of littoral combat ships.
All of the Freedom class ships were built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine.
The last ship named after a Wisconsin city was the USS Marinette, which was christened back in November of 2021.
The USS Beloit is one of the last ships to be side launched.
The USS Cleveland will be the final side launch, which is predicted to be later this fall.
After that final launch, all ships will then be lifted by a Syncrolift, a piece of equipment that uses synchronized hoists to lift it out of the water.
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