I Love Trains, Planes, Boats and Cars,

well some time soon if you are at sea you will see one of these, it is the 7th USS Independence, a snip at only $208 million, and the Navy plans to build 55 of them,

fast and maneuverable, the U.S.S Independence was built by Austal, it's called a "littoral combat ship" (LCS), and the tri-maran can move its weapons around faster than any other ship in the Navy,

for the technical,

Builder: Austal USA, Mobile, AL.

Propulsion system: 2 Gas Turbines, 2 Diesel Engines, 4 Steerable Waterjets, 1 Steerable Thruster

Length, overall: 127.1 meters

Beam: 30.4 meters

Draft: 4.5 meters

Displacement: 2800 tons

Speed: 51 knots

Crew: 40 core crew members, 75 with detachments

Aviation: two MH-60R/S or one MH-60R/S and VTUAV's

Armament: - 1 MK 31 Mod 0 RAM Launcher- 1 MK 110 Mod 0 57mm Gun system- 3 MK 26 Mod 17 .50 Cal Machine guns,

on Monday, Jan 18, 2010, thousands attend historic commissioning ceremony, the "USS Independence" has officially joined the operating forces of the United States Navy at an historic commissioning ceremony held near Austal's Mobile, Alabama facility, thousands of Navy officials, politicians, industry delegates and spectators joined in welcoming "USS Independence" into the US Navy fleet, where it will serve as a fast, agile, focused-mission platform designed for operation in near-shore environments,

Austal Managing Director Bob Browning said the vessel would be an exciting addition to the US Navy's fleet, "For a shipbuilder that started in business in Australia just 21 years ago to successfully hand over such a revolutionary platform to the most powerful navy in the world is both a momentous achievement and an honour, this is definitely one of Austal's proudest moments." it looks a fabulous boat, well done to all concerned.