Update: The future U.S.S. St. Louis was christened and launched Saturday in Marinette, Wis. Watch the video here.Â
For now the ship is known as the LCS 19. Ships do not receive their name until they are commissioned.
Original story:
No better time for the christening of a 387-foot baby than Saturday morning, when the Navy will welcome its newest combat ship, the USS St. Louis.
People are also reading…
Barbara Broadhurst Taylor, the ship's official sponsor, will get the honor of breaking a bottle of sparkling wine across the ship's bow during a 10 a.m. ceremony in Marinette, Wis.
The principal speaker will be U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Missouri).
Taylor, wife of Enterprise Holdings executive chairman Andy Taylor, also kicked off the ship's construction in May 2017 when she authenticated the ship during a keel-laying ceremony. At that time, Taylor's initials were welded onto a steel plate that now is part of the ship's hull.
Secretary of the Navy Richard V. Spencer said in a statement, "This christening marks the transition of USS St. Louis being a mere hull number to a ship with a name and a spirit ..."
According to the Navy, the USS St. Louis is a littoral combat ship officially designated as LCS-19. It is designed for engagement in coastal waters, and possesses mine-clearing and anti-submarine warfare capabilities.
This will be the seventh ship to bear the city's name, the Navy reports.
The first was a sloop of war launched in 1828; it served as the flagship for the West Indies Squadron that fought to suppress piracy in the Caribbean/Gulf of Mexico region.
After that, the name was carried on a Civil War gunboat; a Spanish-American War steamer troop ship; a World War I cruiser; a World War II light cruiser; and, most recently, a cargo ship that was decommissioned in 1991.