Navy coastal combat ship will make stopover at Pearl

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COURTESY U.S. NAVY
The littoral combat ship USS Freedom will stop off in Hawaii on its deployment to Singapore.

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A camouflage-painted ship that the Navy considers to be one of the new "backbones of the fleet" will stop in Hawaii on its inaugural deployment to Singapore and will play a prominent role in the U.S. military’s Pacific "pivot."

The USS Freedom, the Navy’s first littoral combat ship, is expected to leave San Diego today and make port visits at Pearl Harbor and Guam before arriving at Changi Naval Base. ("Littoral" means coastal as opposed to open-ocean.)

Four of the speedy, shallow-water ships may be sent to Singapore on rotational deployments near the Straits of Malacca and the contested South China Sea.

"Freedom’s maiden deployment is another clear signal of the Navy’s enduring commitment to maintain security and stability in the vital Asia-Pacific region," Adm. Cecil Haney, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said in a news release. "Rotationally deploying our new littoral combat ships improves our warfighting capability and directly supports the Navy’s rebalance strategy to the Asia-Pacific."

Haney added that the budget battles in Washington won’t reverse the Navy’s course to reinforce its role in the western Pacific.

"Even in the face of potential budget cuts, there should be no doubt that the U.S. Pacific Fleet remains on watch and that we will continue to deploy our most capable units forward to operate with our allies and partners," he said.

The ship already has made a splash with China. Xinhua, the country’s official news agency, opined last August that it was "unwise" for Washington to contain China with steps including the basing of the ships in Singapore and rotational U.S. Marine and aircraft deployments to northern Australia.

The Freedom is expected to participate in the International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference in Singapore and in parts of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training exercise series in Southeast Asia, the Navy said.

The ship will spend eight months in theater with an initial "gold" crew of 91 sailors. They will be replaced midway through the deployment with a "blue" crew, the Navy said.