Welcome to Navy Live blog coverage of the Nov. 17 commissioning of the Navy’s newest littoral combat ship, USS Sioux City (LCS 11).

U.S. Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa will deliver the commissioning ceremony’s principal address. Mary Winnefeld, the wife of former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff retired Adm. James “Sandy” Winnefeld, is the ship’s sponsor. The ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when she gives the first order to “man our ship and bring her to life!”

Learn more about the ship.

Live video from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is scheduled to begin 9 a.m. (EST).

The future USS Sioux City, designated LCS-11, is the 13th littoral combat ship to enter the fleet and the sixth of the Freedom-variant design. The future USS Sioux City is the first naval vessel to be named in honor of Sioux City, Iowa. The fourth-largest city in the state, Sioux City was founded in 1854 at the navigational head of the Missouri River and takes its name from one of a group of North American Indian tribes that make up the Great Sioux Nation.

The littoral combat ship is a fast, agile, mission-focused platform designed to operate in near-shore environments, while capable of open-ocean tasking and winning against 21st-century coastal threats such as submarines, mines and swarming small craft. They are capable of supporting forward presence, maritime security, sea control and deterrence.

USS Sioux City will be homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Florida.

Follow the conversation on Twitter using #USSSiouxCity.

http://navylive.dodlive.mil/2018/11/16/uss-sioux-city-lcs-11-commissioning-ceremony/ U.S. Navy