USS Cleveland (LCS-31)

USS Cleveland is a littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. She is the fourth commissioned ship in naval service named after Cleveland, the second-largest city in Ohio.

Design and build

In 2002, the US Navy began a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships. The Navy initially ordered two monohull ships from Lockheed Martin, which became known as the Freedom-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class,. Odd-numbered US Navy littoral combat ships are built using the Freedom-class monohull design, while even-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the trimaran hull from General Dynamics. The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Freedom-class design. Cleveland is the sixteenth and final Freedom-class littoral combat ship.
Marinette Marine was awarded the contract to build the ship on 15 January 2019. Cleveland was launched on 14 April 2023. In a sideways launch, Cleveland was involved in a minor collision with a tugboat. No injuries were reported, and damage to Cleveland was "limited" and above the waterline. The shipyard intends to use a shiplift to transfer future ships to the water in a more controlled manner.