USS Minneapolis-St. Paul Launched

(Courtesy of Lockheed Martin)

(Article Appears Courtesy of CBSLocal Minnesota)

The Navy launched the USS Minneapolis-St. Paul into Wisconsin’s Menominee River Saturday morning.

A deputy undersecretary of the Navy broke the bottle, launching the ship built by Lockheed Martin north of Green Bay.

This is the Navy’s 21st ship like this, and once commissioned, will operate mostly near shore, doing things like clearing mines or tracking down small ships or submarines.

The inside of these ships is 40% open, so they can be reconfigured a number of ways to support a variety of missions.

This is the second ship named Minneapolis-St. Paul. The first was a Los Angeles-class attack submarine that served from 1984 to 2008.

“Littoral combat ships are designed to operate in more areas than a typical Navy ship, including shallow water near the coastline,” said Minnesota native Jodi Greenethe, deputy undersecretary of the Navy. “Consequently, LCS 21 is going to bring the name ‘Minneapolis-Saint Paul’ all around the globe.”

Two other ships have been named for just Minneapolis and two for St. Paul.