The US Navy accepted delivery of the future littoral combat ship USS Tulsa (LCS 16) during a ceremony in Mobile, Alabama, April 30.

The delivery marks the official transfer of LCS-16 from the shipbuilder, an Austal USA-led team, to the navy. It is the final milestone prior to commissioning, which is planned for late 2018 in San Francisco.

“Today marks a significant milestone in the life of the future USS Tulsa, as transfer occurs to the Navy and she enters service,” Capt. Mike Taylor, LCS program manager, said.

Tulsa, which completed its acceptance trials in March, is the thirteenth littoral combat ship to be delivered to the navy and the eighth of the Independence variant to join the fleet.

“We look forward to welcoming the future USS Tulsa and crew in San Diego later this year,” Capt. Matthew McGonigle, commander, LCS Squadron One (COMLCSRON ONE), said.

Following commissioning, Tulsa will be homeported in San Diego with her fellow ships USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Independence (LCS 2), USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), USS Coronado (LCS 4), USS Jackson (LCS 6), USS Montgomery (LCS 8), USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10), USS Omaha (LCS 12) and the future USS Manchester (LCS 14).

LCS is a modular, reconfigurable ship designed to meet validated fleet requirements for surface warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and mine countermeasures missions in the littoral region.

An interchangeable mission package is embarked on each LCS and provides the primary mission systems in one of these warfare areas. Using an open architecture design, modular weapons, sensor systems and a variety of manned and unmanned vehicles to gain, sustain, and exploit littoral maritime supremacy, LCS provides US joint force access to critical theaters.