The Island's Navy Namesake: USS Nantucket Commissioned In Boston

The USS Nantucket, the newest U.S. Navy warship, was docked beside the oldest ship in the Navy’s fleet at the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston on Saturday for the new vessel's official commissioning, a celebration years in the making attended by over 2,000 people.

The 378-foot freedom-variant littoral combat ship still has a ways to go before it reaches its home port in Mayport, Florida, including months of final testing that will see it stay docked in Charlestown for the time being. But the ship’s namesake has already left a mark on its crew, and its official welcoming ceremony into the Navy drew dozens of islanders to Boston for the chance to climb on board.

“Nantucket has turned its close connection to the ocean into innovation, prosperity, culture and global leadership,” Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said. “To the crew who are preparing to begin their service aboard the USS Nantucket, know that in Massachusetts we’re proud of your courage, your skill, and we’re so grateful for your willingness to step up to serve.”

The Navy’s newest vessel is the fourth Navy ship to be named after Nantucket, and the first combat ship since a Monitor-class Civil War vessel. The commissioning saw a group of Nantucketers, including town manager Libby Gibson, Select Board members Brooke Mohr and Tom Dixon, harbormaster Sheila Lucey, director of culture and tourism Shantaw Bloise-Murphy and assistant town manager Gregg Tivnan, as well as Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Rep. Bill Keating and Polly Spencer, the ship’s sponsor and wife of former Navy Secretary Richard Spencer.

“You have the Navy’s oldest commissioned ship and the Navy’s newest commissioned ship, and their missions are basically the same, USS Nantucket Senior Enlisted Leader Esmelin Villar said ahead of the ship’s commissioning on Saturday. “So many years apart, we’re still doing the same mission, which is to protect the United States.”

According to the Navy, the ship is designed to operate in near-shore waters and in the open ocean, as a means to “counter 21st century coastal threats.” The USS Nantucket—along with 13 other freedom-variant LCS vessels—is designed for high-threat environments, and can work independently or as part of a “networked battle force” of larger combat ships. The ship boasts Rolling Airframe Missiles and a Mark 110 gun on its forecastle that can fire 220 rounds per minute. According to the ship’s Commanding Officer Kari Yakubisin, its missions will range from countering drug operations to addressing small boat attacks.

Despite being nearly 400 feet long, the vessel is still smaller than many other vessels in the U.S. Navy, and can use that agility to navigate shallower waters that bigger boats cannot touch. Still, with a 20-foot draft—over 10 feet deeper than the Steamship Authority’s M/V Eagle—the ship is too big to squeeze around Brant Point into Nantucket Harbor. While some of the ship’s outfitted 94 crew members have made it to the island, actually bringing the ship to Nantucket would be challenging, Yakubisin said.

“It would be complicated for us to get there,” she said. “We have looked into it, but the logistics for us to get there and to stay are pretty complicated. It’s something we’re looking into for the future.”

Building, setting up and testing the ship has been a multi-year process, starting with its keel laying in 2019. The ship was christened at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine shipyard in Wisconsin, in 2021, a ceremony Gibson and Lucey attended. From there, the ship’s triad of officers took it through four Great Lakes, 15 locks and a grand total of 2,000 nautical miles down the St. Lawrence River and the Atlantic before reaching the Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston.

“We are excited after three years to finally be in Boston to celebrate the commissioning,” Yakubisin said.

As a littoral combat ship, the USS Nantucket is equipped with a system of water jets to steer the boat, taking the place of traditional rudders. The ship also has a tiller mode and auto-pilot in its central bridge, where three crew members can operate the boat, according to auxiliaries officer Meghana Komarraju.

Behind the bridge is a case that pays homage to Nantucket. Inside the case is the flag of the Wharf Rat Club, as well as Nantucket hats, letters from the Sconset Trust and The Inquirer and Mirror, various coins marking the christening of the ship, a command sticker with the crest of the USS Nantucket, a sticker from Coast Guard Station Brant Point and a miniature lightship basket. A Nantucket flag hangs behind the bridge. The door to the commanding officer’s quarters is marked with a wooden sign reading, “Sankaty Head.”

“The vessel is a great asset and this will serve us well, but it’s merely a vessel,” said Rep. Bill Keating (D-Mass.). “A vessel does not have values, a vessel does not have commitment, a vessel does not have courage, a vessel does not have the character of love of country. Only those who serve have those attributes.”