Navy Christens USS Cincinnati (LCS 20)

The ship’s sponsor, Penny Pritzker — 38th U.S. Secretary of Commerce, christened the new ship. (Austal USA photo)

(Article originally appeared courtesy UPI)

The U.S. Navy’s newest littoral combat ship was christened over the weekend in a ceremony in Mobile, Ala.

The USS Cincinnati, an Independence-class littoral combat ship, becomes the 11th ship built by Austal USA as part of the LCS program.

Cincinnati councilman and former member of the U.S. Congress, David Mann, spoke at the christening, and former Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker served as the ship’s sponsor. Pritzker broke a bottle of sparkling wine across the bow in keeping with time-honored Navy traditions.

“The future USS Cincinnati is a symbol of the strong connection between the people of Cincinnati and the Navy and Marine Corps team,” Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said in a press release.

“The ship serves as a testament to our commitment to growing the Fleet and our partnership with industry and the American public,” said Spencer.

The Independence-variant littoral combat ship is a high-speed, shallow draft, surface warfare ship designed to conduct anti-submarine warfare and mine countermeasure missions.

The U.S. Navy has contracted Austal USA to build 15 littoral combat ship worth a combined cumulative value of more than $4.5 billion.