USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10)

Background

In 2002, the U.S. Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships. The Navy initially ordered two trimaran hulled ships from General Dynamics, which became known as the Independence-class littoral combat ships after the first ship of the class, USS Independence. Even-numbered U.S. Navy littoral combat ships are built using the Independence-class trimaran design, while odd-numbered ships are based on a competing design, the conventional hull Freedom-class littoral combat ship. The initial order of littoral combat ships involved a total of four ships, including two of the Independence-class design.

On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence-class littoral combat ships. On 10 February 2012, Naval Secretary Ray Mabus announced that LCS-10, the fifth Independence-class ship to be built, would be named USS Gabrielle Giffords. Secretary Mabus also announced that the ship's sponsor would be Roxanna Green, the mother of Christina-Taylor Green, age 9, who was killed in the Tucson shooting that wounded Giffords in January 2011.

Naming controversy

During the ship's naming announcement on 10 February 2012, Secretary Mabus said that the Navy had chosen to name the ship Gabrielle Giffords because Rep. Giffords' name had become "synonymous with courage" and that the congresswoman had "inspired the nation with remarkable resiliency." The secretary also called the naming a tribute to Navy families, stating that Giffords was a "Navy spouse" who made efforts to support the Navy during her time in Congress. Giffords is married to Captain Mark Kelly (Ret.), a former naval aviator and astronaut.

Following the announcement there was a firestorm of criticism. Traditionally politicians had to meet certain criteria to have a US Naval Vessel named for them: 1) A former US President for their role as Commander-in-Chief of US Armed Forces--example USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) or USS George Washington (CVN-73); 2) A former US Secretary of the Navy for the role as the civilian leader of the Navy Department--example USS Josephus Daniels (DLG/CG-27) or USS John Warner (SSN-785); or 3) a long-standing member (as in decades) of the US House, US Senate, or both who were strong advocates of the US Navy and its policies--example USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) or USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). Democrat Carl Vinson was in the US House from 1914-1965 and advocated a "Two-Ocean" Navy and the creation of Naval Aviation and Aircraft Carriers. Democrat John Stennis was in the US Senate from 1947-1989 and is considered the "Father of the Modern US Navy". Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords did not meet the traditional criteria for politicians: she has never been a US President or US Secretary of Navy and she has never been a strong advocate of the Navy in her 5 years in the US House despite being a both a Navy spouse and a member of the House Committee on Armed Services.

The media reported that some former military members, including retired U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps officers, were criticizing the decision to name the ship after Giffords as part of a perceived trend toward naming ships for political reasons. Some commentators, including retired Commander Darlene Iskra (the first woman to command a U.S. Navy vessel) and Robert Farley (professor at the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce and military affairs scholar), noted in response that several ships in the US Navy, including Henry M. Jackson, Carl Vinson, John C. Stennis, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush were named for prominent politicians who were still alive at the time of the naming. Commander Iskra also wrote in a Time magazine editorial that the still-active Carl Vinson was named for a congressman responsible for barring women from combat roles in the Navy for nearly 50 years.

In connection with the controversy, United States Senator Roy Blunt added an amendment to the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act which required the Navy to report to Congress on how effectively it was adhering to established naming conventions. The resulting report highlighted a consistent record of making "occasional exceptions" to established ship-naming conventions, beginning in 1798 when Secretary Benjamin Stoddert broke with naming convention by naming one of the original six frigates of the United States Navy as USS Chesapeake. The report also noted that while Secretary Mabus considered honoring Giffords and other victims of the Tucson shooting by naming LCS-10 after the Arizonan city of Tucson, consistent with current naming conventions for littoral combat ships to honor U.S. cities, but this was not possible because USS Tucson, an active Los Angeles-class submarine, currently bears the name.

After the ship's 2015 christening, military-focused newspaper Stars and Stripes said that criticism of the ship's naming had become "muted", possibly due to recognition that the ship's naming was "by no means unprecedented."

Construction

The keel of Gabrielle Giffords was laid at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama on 16 April 2014. Rep. Giffords, still recovering from injuries sustained in the 2011 assassination attempt, attended the ship's keel-laying ceremony. With the assistance of an Austal welder, Rep. Giffords welded her initials into a plate that would become part of the ship's hull.

Gabrielle Giffords was launched and moved from its construction facility to drydock on 26 February 2015. The ship was christened in a ceremony held at the Austal USA shipyard on 13 June 2015. Second Lady of the United States Jill Biden served as ship sponsor at the vessel's June 2015 christening.