Tulsa (LCS 16) to be Christened

Austal will host The Honorable Kathy Taylor, ship sponsor, for the christening of the Tulsa (LCS 16) at its Mobile, Ala. shipyard, Feb. 11. Taylor was Tulsa’s 38th Mayor and is currently Chief of Economic Development for Tulsa’s sitting Mayor, G.T. Bynum. Her administration hired the first Veteran’s Liaison in the Mayor’s office, helped establish the first Veteran’s Court in the nation, formed the Tulsa Veterans Advisory Council and worked with local colleges to increase veteran enrollment and completion of college.
 
This marks the sixth Independence-variant LCS christening in Austal’s 11-ship contract worth over $3.5 billion. LCS 16 is the second ship in the U.S. Navy to be named after Tulsa, the second largest city in Oklahoma.
 
With its shallow draft of 14 feet, the Austal-built Independence-variant LCS is an advanced high-speed and agile 419-foot aluminum trimaran combat ship that combines superior seakeeping, endurance and speed with the volume and payload capacity needed to support emerging missions.
 
Six Independence-variant LCS are currently under construction at Austal’s state-of-the-art shipyard in Mobile, Ala.