The Navy commissioned USS Cleveland (LCS 31) during a ceremony Saturday morning in Cleveland, Ohio, placing the last littoral combat ship into active service and closing a shipbuilding program that began in 2002.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao delivered the principal address at the event, which the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation described as the first Navy warship commissioning ever held in Ohio in the nation’s 250-year history.
“Today, we celebrate the sailors who breathe life into this ship. To the officers and crew of USS Cleveland, today is your day,” Cao said at the ceremony.
Ship sponsor Robyn Modly, a native Clevelander and wife of former acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly, ordered the crew to “man our ship and bring her to life.” The sailors sprinted aboard, bringing the ship into commissioned service.
Sen. Jon Husted, Rep. Shontel Brown, Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb, Adm. Karl Thomas of U.S. Fleet Forces Command and Stephanie Hill of Lockheed Martin also spoke, according to WKYC.
Four Ships, One City
LCS 31 is the fourth Navy warship to carry the name Cleveland, a lineage that stretches back more than 120 years and includes ships that fought in both world wars.
The first was USS Cleveland (C-19), a Denver-class protected cruiser built by Bath Iron Works in Maine and commissioned in 1903. She served as flagship of the Atlantic Fleet, escorted convoys across the Atlantic during World War I and patrolled Caribbean and Central American waters before being decommissioned in 1929. She was scrapped under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty.
The second and most decorated was USS Cleveland (CL-55), a light cruiser commissioned in 1942 that became the lead ship of the Cleveland class. With 27 hulls completed as cruisers and nine converted into light aircraft carriers, the class was the most numerous cruiser type produced by the United States during World War II.
CL-55 fought across the Pacific from the Solomon Islands to Okinawa, earning 13 battle stars and a Navy Unit Commendation for her role at the Battle of Empress Augusta Bay off Bougainville in November 1943, where her task force sank a Japanese cruiser and drove off a heavier enemy fleet. She was decommissioned in 1947.
The third, USS Cleveland (LPD 7), was an Austin-class amphibious transport dock commissioned in 1967 that served for more than four decades. She deployed during the Vietnam War and Operation Desert Storm, supported humanitarian missions and served as flagship for Commander, Third Fleet before being decommissioned in 2011.
The Last of the Freedom Class
USS Cleveland is the 16th and final Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, a steel monohull warship designed for near-shore operations. The ship displaces approximately 3,450 metric tons, stretches nearly 388 feet and can exceed 40 knots, according to the Navy’s LCS fact file. LCS platforms carry modular mission packages for mine countermeasures and surface warfare. They can operate alone or alongside larger warships.
Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine built the ship at the Marinette, Wis., shipyard. The Navy laid Cleveland’s keel in June 2021, launched and christened the hull in April 2023 and accepted delivery on Nov. 26, 2025.
The LCS program began in 2002 with the goal of fielding a class of fast, versatile surface combatants for coastal waters. The Navy initially planned as many as 55 ships across two design variants, the monohull Freedom class built in Wisconsin and the trimaran Independence class built by Austal USA in Mobile, Ala.
That number was cut repeatedly, and the Freedom class ended at 16 hulls while the Independence class concluded with 19. USS Pierre (LCS 38), the last Independence-variant, commissioned in November 2025.
Several early Freedom ships, including the lead ship USS Freedom, were pulled from service years ahead of their expected 25-year lifespan due to chronic propulsion and combining gear defects. The Navy reversed plans to decommission additional hulls earlier this year, according to USNI News. Eleven Freedom-variant ships are now in active service, all homeported at Naval Station Mayport, Fla.
Commissioning and What Comes Next
Cmdr. Bruce Hallett, the ship’s commanding officer, addressed the crew during the ceremony.
“You are not simply serving aboard this ship. You are writing the first chapter of her history. You are forging a legacy that will endure long after all of us have left these decks,” Hallett said.
Modly, the ship’s sponsor since its christening in 2023, also addressed the crew. “Every day we do something to support this ship and her sailors will be a glorious day. Today is just the first step toward the many glorious days that will follow,” she said.
In the days before the ceremony, the crew took part in public events across the city and spent time with their sponsor. The commissioning drew elected officials from Ohio’s congressional delegation, city leadership and defense industry executives, all of whom highlighted the contributions of Northeast Ohio companies to the ship’s construction.
Following the ceremony, USS Cleveland will transit to Naval Station Mayport, where she will support forward presence, maritime security and deterrence operations. The ship’s motto is “Forge a Legacy.”
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