The Pentagon has made only the most modest of cutbacks on the new ships by delaying purchases of two of them in future years, and prospects for continued Congressional support for the program are good, despite years of objections from some on Capitol Hill. “The story of this ship is one that makes me ashamed and embarrassed as a former Navy person,” Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican and onetime Navy pilot, said in late 2010, citing billions of dollars in cost overruns.

But the Navy now insists that it has brought the costs down and that each ship will cost less than $400 million, and that after an “utter procurement mess” — Mr. Work’s words — the problems are being solved. (The first ship, despite the leak and crack, is expected to be deployed next year to Singapore, at the southern edge of the South China Sea, and the one now in sea trials could be ready by 2014.)

Image The littoral combat ship Independence during sea trials. Credit... General Dynamics

Analysts say an important factor driving the Navy and Congress is that the vessels the ships are meant to replace — frigates and minesweepers — are aging, and that there is little else in the pipeline. The combat ship is seen as too far along in production to be killed now.

“It’s one of those things that once the snowball goes down the hill, it just keeps rolling,” said Representative Duncan Hunter, a California Republican who has been one of the ship’s biggest critics but said he was bowing to the inevitable. “The Navy likes it. There’s no way I’m going to stop it.”

Here in Mobile, General Dynamics and an American division of an Australian ship maker, Austal USA, are under contract to build 10 of the ships by 2019. The shipyard is booming and expects to soon have 4,500 workers, making it one of the largest private employers in the state and the darling of city fathers and Mr. Bonner. (Another version of the ship, which has a different appearance, is being built by Lockheed Martin in Wisconsin.)

A tour at the Mobile yard of a ship that is nearly complete, the Coronado, shows a bridge with consoles of video screens that allow the captain to drive with a joystick or from a laptop. The 400-foot ships can go faster than 40 knots, or nearly 50 miles an hour (the ones built in Mobile have aluminum trimaran hulls — creating less drag in the water and more speed), and are able to operate in 20 feet of water. They have relatively small crews of 75, decks for helicopters and a variety of equipment modules that can be swapped for different missions, like mine-hunting, submarine warfare or special operations.