Today, President Donald J. Trump visited the shipyard where a Lockheed Martin-led team builds the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). Across the country, the program employs approximately 12,500 people and supports 800 suppliers across 42 states.

The shipyard is located in Marinette, Wisconsin, right on the border of Michigan and Wisconsin. About 1,500 Michigan and Wisconsin residents enter the shipyard every day to work on these resilient, flexible, and highly capable warships. 

Shipyard workers take pride in building ships for the U.S. Navy, but they’re especially proud of one ship in particular – the future USS Marinette, LCS 25, which is named for the city where all LCS are being built.

LCS 25 will be the first U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Marinette and is named to recognize the town’s significant contributions to Navy shipbuilding. Unique among combat ships, LCS is designed to serve a variety of missions today and is easily modified to serve future and evolving missions tomorrow.

“LCS brings something really special to the Navy. There is no other class of ship that delivers this level of flexibility for future missions,” said Joe DePietro, vice president and general manager of Small Combatants and Ship Systems. “LCS is minimally manned, so the U.S. Navy can efficiently project presence around the world efficiently. It really is a remarkable ship, and our team is proud to be building the future USS Marinette for the Navy.”

Lockheed Martin has about 75 employees based in Marinette, many of whom live in either Marinette or its neighboring city, Menominee. Meet some of the teammates who are bolstering the Navy’s ability to operate anywhere, anytime.

Marinette means “the one that rises above” which speaks highly of not just our community and company but our great nation as well. It brings forth aspects of our willingness as Americans to rise to the challenge, never back down and be determined to never give up. Our company and community designed one of the best military warships in the Navy’s fleet, and the Navy gave it a name that correlates to our town. We are proud to have produced something that can always be held near to our hearts.

Having a ship named after Marinette is a great honor and recognition of the hard work the employees in the shipyard put in every day. Shipbuilding is entrenched in the community and the blue-collar workforce is what keeps this community going. The ships built here represent us all over the world, and the fact that this ship is named after the people who built it makes it that much more meaningful.   

It is an honor for this small town to have a naval ship named after it; especially since it was built in Marinette by folks who live here. This town has a long history of shipbuilding and these folks are hardworking Midwesterners. It will be exciting to see where the ship goes and to be able to follow her journey.

Watching the ships be built in Marinette and being a part of the process is so rewarding. In the summer, my family often takes boat rides to see the “big ships,” as my son likes to call them. In these moments, I have an immense sense of pride in working for Lockheed Martin and being a member of this community. To have an LCS named after Marinette will give the workers – and everyone in the neighboring communities – something to be proud of. Many of our friends, family, and neighbors have united to build and test these ships. To confidently send this ship to sea proudly displaying the name Marinette is something we will be able to share with generations to come.