Cunningham said the commissioning of the ship will not only be a major event for Buffalo but also historic:

"At no time in history has any other Navy ship bearing the name of its predecessor been commissioned while alongside its predecessor."

This is the first time a Navy ship is being commissioned in Buffalo.

The original USS Little Rock was commissioned at the end of World War II.

The new USS Little Rock is a littoral combat ship, which allows it to navigate closer to shorelines and can take on illicit-trafficking operations in places such as the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, as well as counter-piracy operations in places such as around the Horn of Africa.

A core crew of 50 will operate the new ship, plus 20 to 23 more sailors depending on the mission-specific equipment brought aboard. That means the total size of the crew will peak at fewer than 100, compared to the original Little Rock, which had a crew of up to 1,400.

The new Little Rock can also move at speeds of up to 40 knots, which makes it one of the fastest ships in the Navy's fleet.

There are eight other ships of this type.