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The ''Independence'' class is a class of littoral combat ships built for the United States Navy. The hull design evolved from a project at Austal to design a 40 knot cruise ship. That hull design evolved into the high-speed trimaran ferry and the ''Independence'' class was then proposed by General Dynamics and Austal as a contender for Navy plans to build a fleet of small, multipurpose warships to operate in the littoral zone. Two ships were approved, to compete with Lockheed Martin's design. As of 2014, the lead ship and a second ship, , have been commissioned. Despite initial plans to only accept one of the ''Independence'' and ''Freedom'' classes, the Navy has since announced plans to order up to ten additional ships of each class, for a total 12 ships per class. ==Planning and construction== Planning for a class of small, multipurpose warships to operate in the littoral zone began in the early 2000s. In July 2003, a proposal by General Dynamics (partnering with Austal USA, the American subsidiary of Australian shipbuilder Austal) was approved by the Navy, with a contract for two vessels.〔 〕 These would then be compared to two ships built by Lockheed Martin to determine which design would be taken up by the Navy for a production run of up to 55 ships. The first ship, was laid down at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, on 19 January 2006. The planned second ship was cancelled in November 2007, but reordered in May 2009, and laid down in December of that year as , shortly before ''Independence'' was launched.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=General Dynamics Littoral Combat Ship Team Delivers Independence (LCS 2) and Lays Keel for Coronado (LCS 4) )〕 The development and construction of ''Independence'' as of June 2009 was running at 220% over-budget. The total projected cost for the ship is $704 million. The Navy had originally projected the cost at $220 million.〔 ''Independence'' began builder's trials in July 2009, three days behind schedule because of maintenance issues.〔 〕 A leak in the port gas turbine saw the order of trials altered, but builder's and acceptance trials were completed by November.〔 〕〔 〕 and although her first INSURV inspection revealed 2,080 deficiencies, these were rectified in time for the ship to be handed over to the Navy in mid-December, and commissioned in mid-January 2010.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=80016 ) 〕 Navy leaders said that the fixed price competition offered the Austal design an equal shot, in spite of its excess size, cost and limited service. After much inconsistency on how testing and orders were to proceed, in November 2010, the Navy asked that Congress approve ten of both the ''Independence'' and ''Freedom'' classes. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Independence-class littoral combat ship」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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