MARINETTE, Wisc. (SPECTRUM NEWS) — Blue-white light and a small shower of sparks from a welder marked the ceremonial start of production on the future USS Beloit.
The ship — a Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ship — is being built by Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, a small city about an hour north of Green Bay.
“The ship we are celebrating today is the first U.S.Navy warship to be named for Beloit,” says Joe DePietro, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin’s small combatants and ship systems. “Beloit and its citizens have made major contributions to the United States Navy — including producing engines for Freedom-variant Littoral Combat Ships — like the future USS Beloit — and producing components for Ford Class aircraft carriers.”
Beloit is home to Fairbanks Morse which produces the propulsion systems for the Navy — including those that will power the USS Beloit.
Marinette Marine has been building Littoral Combat Ships for the last 15 years and has delivered 10 to the U.S. Navy. It has six in production and will build another four for international sales.
Beloit native Marcia M. Anderson — a retired U.S. Army major general — served as the Beloit’s sponsor. Her initials were welded into the kneel plate of the ship.
“This is not just a ceremony that launches the construction of a new vessel in the most powerful navy in the world, It is a moment when we publicly acknowledge the important place that smaller towns and cities in America have in ensuring that we remain a strong and viable country,” she says at the ceremony.
Fincantieri Marinette Marine is also building the future USS Marinette.