Don’t Give Up the Ship
By Tony Parisi
July 13, 2022
“Don’t give up the ship!” was the last command uttered by Captain James Lawrence onboard the frigate USS Chesapeake on June 4, 1813, as he lay dying below deck during a fierce fire fight with HMS Shannon. This forgotten sea battle, the Battle of Boston, took place during the War of 1812 off the Massachusetts coast. It ended badly for the Americans, with USS Chesapeake being boarded and taken by the British, and her captain and 48 sailors killed, 99 more wounded, and the entire crew—232 —captured. Although USS Chesapeake and the U.S. Navy were defeated that day, Captain Lawrence’s last words became a battle cry and inspiration to many U.S. ships and Sailors forever more.
More than two hundred years later many U.S. Navy ships continue to use Captain Lawrence’s last words, “Don’t give up the ship!” as their motto and battle cry. But it seems our senior Navy leaders are purposefully ignoring Captain Lawrence’s final command when it comes to the Freedom class littoral combat ship (LCS-1 class). USS Freedom (LCS 1), the lead ship of the class, was commissioned in 2008 and decommissioned in 2021, serving just 13 years as a U.S. Navy surface combatant. The U.S. Navy’s 2023 budget proposal calls for the decommission of USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), USS Milwaukee (LCS 5), USS Detroit (LCS 7), USS Little Rock (LCS 9), USS Sioux City (LCS-11), USS Witchita (LCS 13), USS Billings (LCS 15), USS Indianapolis (LCS 17), and USS St. Louis (LCS 19), putting these new ships and crews in limbo. Senior Navy leaders say they plan to keep the last 6 Freedom class ships—USS Minneapolis St. Paul (LCS 21), USS Cooperstown (LCS 23), USS Marinette (LCS 25), USS Nantucket (LCS 27), USS Beloit (LCS 29), and USS Cleveland (LCS 31) for now, but the Navy’s senior admirals don’t seem too enthusiastic about this plan either. As of July 2022, LCS-23, 25, 27, 29, and 31 are not yet in commissioned service.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2022/07/13/dont_give_up_the_ship_841996.html
