USS Charleston | Trackpads Warship Archive

USS Charleston (LCS-18) sails through San Diego Bay, California (USA), to the ship's homeport Naval Base San Diego on 19 April 2019, successfully completing its maiden voyage from the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alaba… — The U.S. Navy littoral combat ship USS Charleston (LCS-18) sails through San Diego Bay, California (USA), to the ship's homeport Naval Base San Diego on 19 April 2019, successfully completing its maiden voyage from the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama (USA).This image was released by the United States Navy with the ID 190419-N-KG738-1051 (next) . This tag does not indicate the copyright status of the attached work. A normal copyright tag is still required. See Commons:Licensing . العربية ∙ বাংলা ∙ Bahasa Indonesia ∙ Bahaso Jambi ∙ Deutsch ∙ Deutsch (Sie-Form) ∙ English ∙ español ∙ euskara ∙ فارسی ∙ français ∙ italiano ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ македонски ∙ മലയാളം ∙ Plattdüütsch ∙ Nederlands ∙ polski ∙ پښتو ∙ português ∙ русский ∙ slovenščina ∙ svenska ∙ Türkçe ∙ українська ∙ 简体中文 ∙ 繁體中文 ∙ +/− · Public domainImage source

Hull / pennantLCS 18

ClassIndependence-class littoral combat ship

NavyUnited States Navy

CountryUnited States

Builder / shipyardAustal USA

Recorded statusActive

What is known about this ship

USS Charleston (LCS 18) is preserved as one ship in the Independence-variant LCS roster.

Service history

The Navy’s January 2026 LCS fact file lists USS Charleston (LCS 18) in service at San Diego, California.

Class context: Independence-class littoral combat ship

The Independence variant is the aluminum-trimaran half of the U.S. Navy Littoral Combat Ship program, comprising 19 even-numbered hulls from LCS 2 through LCS 38.

Later service and disposition

Active U.S. Navy service as of the source review.

Class relationship

This ship is recorded as a member of Independence-class littoral combat ship. Shared design history belongs on the class page; this page concentrates on the individual hull where evidence is available.

Sources and further reading

Littoral Combat Ship Class - LCS ↗United States Navy · accessed 2026-09-20

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