The Newest Ship in the US Navy - 24/7 Wall St.

Special Report

Published: February 13, 2024 10:27 am

The United States is widely renowned for having the most powerful naval fleet in the world, although it is not the largest by any measure. The U.S. Navy maintains this dominance of the seas by constantly introducing new ships or submarines into the fleet and decommissioning older ones that are not up to par with its technological requirements. In recent years the United States has introduced a handful of new vessels, each further adding to its naval superiority

A few of the main additions that have been made recently are the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, Virginia-class attack submarines, and Independence-class littoral combat ships. The U.S. Navy also expects to continue adding to these classes in the coming years. (This country has the most military submarines.)

As it stands now, the majority of the U.S. naval fleet consists of destroyers which account for roughly 30% of all of its vessels. Submarines are also a major component of the fleet, and these account for another quarter of the force. The rest of the fleet is filled out with littoral combat ships, cruisers, amphibious assault ships, and aircraft carriers.

To determine America’s newest warships, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the military data site World Directory of Modern Military Warships’ directory of all active ships in the U.S. and cross-referenced it with data from the Naval Vessel Register. We compiled data on all ships and submarines — 32 in total — that have been commissioned in the service of the U.S. Navy for five years or less and ranked them by age. It should be noted that this list is current as of October 15, 2023.

The Navy has announced that in the coming years it will be decommissioning some of its Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, and these will be replaced with the new Ford-class aircraft carriers. The USS John F. Kennedy aircraft carrier is expected to replace the USS Nimitz in 2025, and the USS Enterprise is expected to replace the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2028. (These are the 19 ships and submarines of the U.S. Navy fleet.)

Here is a look at the newest ships in the U.S. Navy:

32. USS Tulsa

Commission date: 2/16/2019
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

31. USS Charleston

USS Charleston by Naval Surface Warriors

USS Charleston (CC BY-SA 2.0 DEED) by Naval Surface Warriors

Commission date: 3/2/2019
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

30. USS Paul Ignatius

Commission date: 7/27/2019
Unit type: Destroyer
Class: Arleigh Burke-class

29. USS Billings

Commission date: 8/3/2019
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Freedom-class

28. USS Cincinnati

Commission date: 10/5/2019
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

27. USS Independence

Commission date: 10/26/2019
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Freedom-class

26. USS Hershel “Woody” Williams

Commission date: 3/7/2020
Unit type: Expeditionary mobile base
Class: Lewis B. Puller-class

25. USS Delaware

Commission date: 4/4/2020
Unit type: Attack submarine
Class: Virginia-class

24. USS Vermont

Commission date: 4/18/2020
Unit type: Attack submarine
Class: Virginia-class

23. USS Kansas City

Commission date: 6/20/2020
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

22. USS Tripoli

Commission date: 7/15/2020
Unit type: Amphibious assault ship
Class: America-class

21. USS St. Louis

Commission date: 8/8/2020
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Freedom-class

20. USS Delbert D. Black

Commission date: 9/26/2020
Unit type: Destroyer
Class: Arleigh Burke-class

19. USS Oakland

Commission date: 4/17/2021
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

18. USS Miguel Keith

Commission date: 5/8/2021
Unit type: Expeditionary mobile base
Class: Lewis B. Puller-class

17. USS Mobile

Commission date: 5/22/2021
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

16. USS Daniel Inouye

Commission date: 12/8/2021
Unit type: Destroyer
Class: Arleigh Burke-class

15. USS Savannah

Commission date: 2/5/2022
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

14. USS Frank E. Peterson Jr.

220514-M-XB450-0531 by Official U.S. Navy Page

220514-M-XB450-0531 (CC BY 2.0) by Official U.S. Navy Page

Commission date: 5/14/2022
Unit type: Destroyer
Class: Arleigh Burke-class

13. USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul

Commission date: 5/21/2022
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Freedom-class

12. USS Oregon

Commission date: 5/28/2022
Unit type: Attack submarine
Class: Virginia-class

11. USS Montana

Commission date: 6/25/2022
Unit type: Attack submarine
Class: Virginia-class

10. USS Fort Lauderdale

Commission date: 7/30/2022
Unit type: Amphibious transport dock
Class: San Antonio-class

9. USS Santa Barbara

Commission date: 4/1/2023
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

8. USS Cooperstown

Commission date: 5/6/2023
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Freedom-class

7. USS Lenah H Sutcliffe Higbee

Commission date: 5/13/2023
Unit type: Guided missile destroyer
Class: Arleigh Burke-class

6. USS Carl M. Levin

Commission date: 6/24/2023
Unit type: Destroyer
Class: Arleigh Burke-class

5. USS Canberra

Commission date: 7/22/2023
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

4. USS Marinette

Commission date: 9/16/2023
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Freedom-class

3. USS Augusta

Commission date: 9/30/2023
Unit type: Littoral combat ship
Class: Independence-class

2. USS Jack H. Lucas

Commission date: 10/7/2023
Unit type: Destroyer
Class: Arleigh Burke-class

1. USS Hyman G. Rickover

Commission date: 10/14/2023
Unit type: Attack submarine
Class: Virginia-class

Read more: Special Report, littoral combat ship, military submarines, Navy, us navy warships, warship, Military

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