BUFFALO, NY – In advance of its formal commissioning on Saturday, reporters on Thursday were given a stem to stern tour of the new USS Little Rock, which has been moored next to its namesake on Buffalo’s waterfront for the better part of two weeks.
It is the first time in the 242 year history of the U.S. Navy that a new ship is commissioned alongside its namesake.
The original U-S-S Little Rock has been a mainstay of the Buffalo waterfront since it became part of the Buffalo and Erie County naval and serviceman’s’ park in 1979. It was a cruiser built for combat in World War II, but completed too late to see duty in that conflict.
The new Little Rock is also a combat ship, but designed for duty close to shore.
"The most important thing about this ship is the crew and they’ve been training very hard, some of them for three years to man this ship and it into the fleet, and so we're very happy to be here," said Todd Peters, the ship’s commanding officer.
The ship is a Freedom Class Litoral Combat Ship (LCS) with state of the art weapons and navigational systems.
It is the fifth such vessel (which cost between $300 and $350 million to build) to be put into put into service by the navy.
Enjoy your look inside by clicking on the video player to watch our story from reporter Dave McKinley and Photojournalist Terry Belke