Welcome to San Diego Blue Crew of LCS-4!!! The fourth in line of the Navy's new Littoral-combat Ships, USS Coronado (LCS-4), is the second in the "Independence variant" of the Littoral (shallow water capable) combat ships. The first Independence variant is of course the USS Independence, LCS-2 and can be seen here... http://youtu.be/D0Glx90w-Pw LCS-1, USS Freedom, which is the first of the LCS class, is a single hulled version, and you can come onboard here... http://youtu.be/X3b18j1oAWc http://youtu.be/J_bbV1yn2VQ Or, see USS Freedom's maiden deployment here... http://youtu.be/Dokl3eOjxaI (The third is USS Fort Worth, also stationed in San Diego, CA. Most of the LCS class will be stationed in San Diego.) There is a closeup of some of the officers and crew at 1:38 , and the ship in the background right then is the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76 (scheduled to be moved to Japan in 2015). In the background behind the ship (second half of video) is the city of it's namesake, Coronado, and the Coronado Bridge can be seen above the ship at the 2:40 mark in this video. That is Cmdr. John Kochendorfer (I'm almost sure it is) at 0:57. CDR Kochendorfer will be the commissioning Commanding Officer of USS CORONADO (LCS-4) Blue Crew. Commissioning is set for April 5 2014. This is the video of the maiden entrance into San Diego bay on the morning of March 10, 2014. They left Mobile Alabama on January 27, enroute via the Panama Canal for San Diego. Commissioning is set for April 5. Tickets may still be available. http://www.coronadocommissioning.net/ http://www.ecoronado.com/profiles/blogs/uss-coronado-is-finally-home-110320141740 http://www.cpf.navy.mil/news.aspx/010241 Link to my film of the USS Independence on her maiden voyage through San Diego bay...http://youtu.be/D0Glx90w-Pw Note: For those of you wondering about the tugboat, it is a tradition in San Diego, as well as other Naval Ports, to "salute" with water-arches from fire hoses, the maiden inbound voyages, as well as many of the homecomings, whenever possible. Video original and Copyright James Beer 2014, all rights reserved. Contributing music artist Christopher Hanson, who is a professional saxophonist and teacher in San Diego. Secondary short soundbyte is by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com ______________ Recent quote from "gCaptain" article publication February 24, 2014.... "LCS news: U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced today that only 32 ships, of the original 52 ships ordered, will actually be built. He notes that the U.S. Navy is "relying too heavily on the LCS to achieve its long term goals for ship numbers" and that defense spending will be cut by $75 billion over the next two years. "We need to closely examine whether the LCS has the independent protection and firepower to operate and survive against a more advanced military adversary and emerging new technologies, especially in the Asia Pacific," noted Hagel. On a more positive note however, USS Independence (LCS2) was going through heavy weather speed trials recently and did well over 40 knots in sea state 5. Our source notes the ship performed flawlessly."

• published: 12 Mar 2014
• views: 88