Freedom completes Rough Water Trials

The US Navy has reported that that the Littoral Combat Ship USS Freedom (LCS 1) completed its Rough Water Trials (RWT) in late March, also known as Seakeeping and Structural Loads Trials.

During the RWT, the ship collected data at seat states five and six off the Oregon coast for 11 days. The ship was steered in an octagonal route at speeds ranging from dead stop to flank speed, and performance data at all speeds and orientations was captured.

The data was used to measure the ship structure's stress, torsion and strain levels. It will be further analysed over the next few months to compare its performance with the modelled performance. Initial test results, according to the navy, are positive. The auxiliaries and machinery plant performed well.

During the tests, the crew members were also equipped with accelerometers and other sensors to evaluate human factors due to ship motions.

Once validated, the navy will be provided the conditions under which the USS Freedom and other variant ships can be operated.

The Freedom class ships are being built by an industry team led by Lockheed Martin, while the Independence variant is being built by a team led by General Dynamics, Bath Iron Works and Austal. A total of 12 ships are currently under construction.