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NavSource Online: Littoral Warship Photo Archive
Ship's patch courtesy of
Don McGrogan,
BMCS, USN (Ret.)

Kingsville (LCS 36)


Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign:
N - K - I - N
"Tough and Competent"
Specifications - LCS Littoral Combat Ship, Independence Class (Variant 2, Flight 0, first generation):
Hull Type: Stabilized Trimaran Monohull
Displacement: 2176 tons (light), 2784 tons (full)
Dead Weight: 608 tons
Length: 418' (oa)
Beam: 93.2' (extreme)
Draft: 13' (Maximum Navigational Draft)
Propulsion: Two gas turbine engines, two propulsion diesels, two waterjets
Speed: 47 kts (sprint), 50+ kts (top speed)
Armament: Bofors 57mm naval gun; Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launcher; 4 - .50 caliber machine gun mounts
Combat Management System: Northrup Grumman ICMS
Electronics: Ericsson Sea Giraffe (air / surface surveillance, weapon assignment);
Decoy System: 3 - Super RBOC; 2 - Nulka Decoy launchers
Complement: 26
Kingsville (LCS 36) Building and Operational Data:
  • 14 December 2018: Contract Awarded to General Dynamics Corp.
  • 04 February 2019: Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer announced that LCS 36 will be named USS Kingsville
  • 05 January 2021: Construction commenced at Austal USA, Mobile, Ala. with a "First Cut" Ceremony, when the first sheet for hull fabrication was machined
  • 23 February 2022: Keel laid and authenticated by sponsor Kate Kline, a member of the sixth generation of the King Ranch Family, at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala.
  • 15 April 2023: Launched and christened
  • 01 February 2024: Successfully completed sea trials
  • 01 March 2024: The U.S. Navy accepted delivery and took control of the future USS Kingsville
  • 24 August 2024: Commissioned at the Solomon P. Ortiz Center, Corpus Christi, Tex., Commander Ludwig Mann III in command, assigned to LCS Squadron One at San Diego, Cal.

    Note:
    1.) The contract option awarded to Lockheed Martin Corporation is managed by Lockheed Martin's Maritime Systems and Sensors division in Moorestown NJ. The Lockheed Martin team includes: Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard, Bollinger Shipyards, Gibbs and Cox naval architects, Izar of Spain and Blohm & Voss naval shipbuilders.

    2.) The contract option awarded to General Dynamics is managed by Bath Iron Works at Bath, Me. The major members of General Dynamics team are: Austal USA, based in Mobile, Ala.; BAE Systems, Rockville, Md; Maritime Applied Physics Corporation, Baltimore, Md; CAE Marine Systems, Leesburg, Va.; Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, Baltimore, Md; General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products, Burlington, Vt.; General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Conn.; General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, Washington, D.C.; and General Dynamics Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.

    "Kingsville, The Ship"     -    "Kingsville, The People"
    Click On Image
    For Full Size Image    		Size Image Description Contributed
    By And/Or Copyright
    Independence 102k 27 May 2004: Washington DC - The U.S. Navy announced today that General Dynamics - Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, will be one of two defense contracting teams awarded contract options for final system design with options for detail design and construction of up to two Flight 0 Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). The LCS is an entirely new breed of U.S. Navy warship. A fast, agile, and networked surface combatant, LCS's modular, focused-mission design will provide Combatant Commanders the required warfighting capabilities and operational flexibility to ensure maritime dominance and access for the joint force. LCS will operate with focused-mission packages that deploy manned and unmanned vehicles to execute missions including, Special Operations Forces (SOF) support, high-speed transit, Maritime Interdiction Operations (MIO), Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), and Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection (AT/FP). (Artist concept provided to the U.S. Navy courtesy of General Dynamics, Photo #040527-O-0000G-004, from the Navy Newstand) Mike Smolinski
    Clifton, N.J.

    Navsource DE/FF/LCS
    Archive Manager
    Independence 492k undated: Mobile, Ala. - An aerial view of the Austal USA shipyard, the American branch of operations for Australian shipbuilder Austal. Founded in 1999 along the west bank of Blakely Island on the Mobile River in Mobile, Alabama. The shipyard was initially engaged in building high-speed aluminum ferries, such as the Lake Express for service across Lake Michigan, and the Alakai for Hawaii Superferry. Construction on the first Littoral Combat Ship of the USS Independence variant was begun in 2006. In conjunction with the General Dynamics Corp., all of the planned Independence Class LCS's will be built here.

    (Photo courtesy of AUSTAL, USA)
    Kingsville  270k       Kingsville  216k       Kingsville  146k

    05 January 2021: Mobile, Ala. - Prior to the cutting of the first sheet of medal for the construction of the future USS Kingsville (LCS 36), AUSTAL USA shipyard workers
    prepare for the "First Cut" ceremony. Afterward, the button is pushed for the cutting machine to start and construction begins. Kingsville will be the first ship named after the
    Texas city, home of Naval Air Station Kingsville, to serve the U.S. Navy.

    (Photos courtesy of  Austal USA)

    1.) 1536001      2.) 1536002      3.) 1536003     

    Kingsville  105k       Kingsville  192k       Kingsville  331k

    23 February 2022: Mobile, Ala. - Austal USA celebrated the keel laying of the future littoral combat ship USS Kingsville (LCS 36) at its ship manufacturing facility. Kingsville will be an Independence-variant LCS, one of 18 the Navy has contracted Austal to build. The ship is the first U. S. Navy ship named for the city of Kingsville in Texas. A keel laying ceremony is the formal recognition of the start of a ship’s construction. At Austal USA, the keel laying symbolically recognizes module erection in final assembly and the ceremonial beginning of a ship. The ship’s sponsor is Katherine Kline, a member of the sixth generation of the King Ranch family, descendents of Capt. Richard King who founded the King Ranch located in Kingsville, Texas, in 1853. Naval Air Station Kingsville, located three miles from Kingsville, was founded in 1942 and continues a special relationship with the King Ranch. As the keel authenticator, Kline welded her initials onto an aluminum keel plate with the assistance of Austal USA A-class welder, Joseph Bennett Jr.

    (Photos courtesy of  Austal USA)

    1.) 1536004      2.) 1536005      3.) 1536006     

    Kingsville  1.) 345k       Kingsville  2.) 410k       Kingsville  3.) 350k       Kingsville  4.) 385k

    28 March 2023: Mobile, Ala. - We see the future USS Kingsville (LCS 36) being rolled out of the fabrication shed onto a barge.
    The barge will transport it downriver to the BAE Systems yard where she'll be transferred to a floating drydock. On the 29th, she'll be floated out
    of the drydock and towed back to the Austal yard upriver.

    (Photos courtesy of  Austal USA)

    1.) 1536007      2.) 1536008      3.) 1536009      4.) 1536010

    Kingsville  1.) 301k       Kingsville  2.) 708k       Kingsville  3.) 263k       Kingsville  4.) 136k       Kingsville  5.) 256k
    Kingsville  6.) 284k       Kingsville  7.) 224k       Kingsville  8.) 342k       Kingsville  9.) 625k       Kingsville  10.) 222k

    22 April 2023: Mobile, Ala.
     
    Austal USA celebrated the christening of the future USS Kingsville (LCS 36), an Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship, in a ceremony at the company’s Gulf Coast shipyard today. Ship sponsor Katherine L. Kline performed the ceremonial bottle break over the bow of Kingsville, the 18th LCS designed and constructed by Austal USA. Kline is a member of the sixth generation of the King Ranch Family, decedents of Captain Richard King who founded the King Ranch located in Kingsville, Texas in 1853. Her father, Lieutenant Commander Richard Sugden, was a Navy flight surgeon.

    LCS 36 is the first U.S. Navy ship named for Kingsville. The town, born from the need for an efficient railroad service connecting Brownsville, Texas to St. Louis, Mo., was founded in 1904, after Captain King’s wife, Henrietta, deeded 40,000 acres from the King Ranch to be available for the development of the Kingsville townsite. The Kingsville community remains vital to the agribusiness of south Texas and maintains a special relationship with Naval Air Station Kingsville.

    “It is an honor and privilege to serve as the sponsor of the future USS Kingsville,” stated Kline. “I am so proud of the significant role that the namesake city has played in our nation’s security throughout its long history. I know the ship will carry that legacy of service forward as she and her crew enter the fleet to proudly serve our Navy and our Nation.”

    The ceremony was widely attended by community and Navy leaders, Austal USA shipbuilders, and the ship’s commanding officer Cmdr. Ludwig Mann III.

    “It is said that a ship’s sponsor infuses her spirit into each new ship, providing her strength and inspiration to those who serve aboard her throughout the ship’s service life,” stated Austal USA President Rusty Murdaugh. “We know that Katherine will do a great job as sponsor of Kingsville but also know that the pride and values of those who worked so hard to build her, have laid a solid foundation for her to build upon.”

    (Photos courtesy of  Austal USA)

    1.) 1536011      2.) 1536012      3.) 1536013      4.) 1536014      5.) 1536015
    6.) 1536016      7.) 1536017      8.) 1536018      9.) 1536019      10.) 1536020

    Kingsville 1.) 248k       Kingsville 2.) 331k       Kingsville 3.) 451k

    18 August 2024: Corpus Christi, Tex.

    Three views of the crew of the U.S. Navy’s newest littoral combat ship, Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Kingsville arriving in the city of Corpus Christi
    through Corpus Christi Bay ahead of her commissioning ceremony on 24 August 2024. LCS 36 is the first U.S. Navy warship to honor the city of Kingsville, Texas.

    (U.S. Navy photo VIRIN #1.) Corpus Christi, Tex, #2.) 20240818-N-IW125-0011 and #3.) 20240818-N-IW125-0006by MC2 Nicholas V. Huynh from the Defense Visual Info. Distribution Service)

    1.) 1536021      2.) 1536022      3.) 1536023     

    "Kingsville, The Ship"     -    "Kingsville, The People"
    Kingsville
    Memorabilia
    Kingsville
    Emblem
    Kingsville
    Courtesy of
    Wolfgang Hechler
    There is no DANFS History currently available for Kingsville (LCS 34) at Navsource
    Kingsville's Commanding Officers
    Thanks to Wolfgang Hechler & Mike Smolinski
    Dates of Command Commanding Officers
    1.) 24 Aug. 2024Cmdr. Ludwig Mann III (enl. '97, STA21 '05) (New Jersey)
    1.) 22 May 2025Cmdr. John F. Kavanagh (OCS '08) (Newport, R.I.)
    Additional Resources
    Tin Can Sailors
    The U.S. Navy Memorial
    The Destroyer Escort Historical Museum
    The Destroyer History Foundation
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    This page created on 21 December 2018,
    and is maintained by Mike Smolinski

    by Paul R. Yarnall, All Rights Reserved.
    Page Last Updated: 13 September 2025