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USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10)

USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS is the fifth INDEPENDENCE - class Littoral Combat Ship and the first ship in the Navy to bear the name. By naming the ship after a living woman, the Navy once again broke with its naming conventions for ships. Littoral Combat Ships are named after cities but in the case of USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS, the ship's namesake Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was chosen for political reasons.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

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• Click here to see which USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS History:

USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS is an INDEPENDENCE-variant littoral combat ship built by Austal USA at Mobile, Alabama. Her keel was laid at Austal's Mobile yard on April 16, 2014, marking the start of assembly on the trimaran aluminum hull. She was launched into the water on February 26, 2015, and formally christened at Mobile on June 13, 2015, with Dr. Jill Biden serving as sponsor in a ceremony attended by former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and Capt. (USN, Ret.) Mark Kelly. Following builder's and acceptance testing through the fall of 2016, the ship successfully completed acceptance trials on November 18, 2016, and was delivered to the U.S. Navy at Mobile on December 23, 2016. Commissioning followed at Pier 21, Port of Galveston, Texas, on June 10, 2017, before a crowd of several thousand guests, after which the crew "brought the ship to life" and began preparations for her homeport transit to San Diego via the Panama Canal. That maiden voyage - used intensively for Combat Ship Systems Qualification Trials (CSSQT), crew certifications, and equipment checks - concluded with arrival at Naval Base San Diego on July 5, 2017. A public open-ship weekend on July 22-23 at Broadway Pier introduced the ship to San Diego residents and marked the end of her initial phase of fleet introduction.

Through 2018, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS remained San Diego-based as she moved through the post-delivery and post-shakedown maintenance and training cycle typical of new LCS hulls. Imagery from March 2018 shows the ship in maintenance at BAE Systems Ship Repair, San Diego, reflecting workups and availabilities that prepared her for her first Western Pacific deployment.

Armed with the Navy's new over-the-horizon anti-ship weapon, the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), and embarking the MQ-8 Fire Scout unmanned helicopter alongside her manned HSC detachment, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS departed San Diego on September 3, 2019, for her first rotational deployment to the Indo-Pacific. Within weeks she joined U.S. and Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) units for the bilateral exercise PACIFIC GRIFFIN 2019 in the waters near Guam, where on October 1, 2019, she conducted a successful live firing of the NSM - an early operational demonstration of the LCS's expanded surface-warfare reach. During PACIFIC GRIFFIN, she also executed an underway replenishment with the dry cargo ship USNS AMELIA EARHART (T-AKE 6) on October 4, 2019, supporting sustained at-sea operations. After concluding the Guam phase, the ship operated across the Philippine Sea and South China Sea, conducting logistics events and presence operations as she settled into the U.S. 7th Fleet rhythm.

By early 2020, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS was forward-stationed from Republic of Singapore support facilities, using Changi Naval Base as a logistics hub for her 7th Fleet patrols. On January 5, 2020, she was moored at RSS Singapura (Sembawang) for crew events. On January 14, 2020, Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas B. Modly visited the ship at Changi, receiving briefings on her missions and NSM integration and underscoring Singapore's role in enabling rotational LCS deployments. Through the spring she conducted a steady cadence of operations in the South China Sea and surrounding waters, including an underway replenishment with USNS CESAR CHAVEZ (T-AKE 14) on April 27, 2020; MQ-8B Fire Scout flight operations and maintenance on May 14, 2020; and, on May 25-28, 2020, a bilateral exercise with RSN frigate RSS STEADFAST (FFS 70) to hone air-defense and surface tracking procedures. On June 23, 2020, she joined Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force training with JS KASHIMA (TV 3508) and JS SHIMAYUKI (TV 3513) in the South China Sea, a visible demonstration of coordinated maritime presence among partners. In late June and early July 2020 she was photographed operating near a Chinese survey ship, reflecting routine U.S. presence and monitoring in contested waters.

After periods on station, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS shifted west to the U.S. 3rd Fleet operating areas for training and logistics in the latter half of 2020. On September 24, 2020, she conducted an at-sea rendezvous and replenishment evolution alongside the fleet oiler USNS GUADALUPE (T-AO 200) while operating with aircraft carrier USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT (CVN 71). In the October-December 2020 timeframe she supported U.S. 4th Fleet enhanced counter-narcotics operations with an embarked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment, contributing to multiple seizures totaling more than 2,200 pounds of suspected cocaine by early November.

Her first deployment concluded with return to San Diego on January 31, 2021, after a sustained period forward from September 2019 - at the time the longest LCS deployment yet. In a subsequent discussion of lessons learned, the commanding officer emphasized how the NSM and aviation detachment had expanded the ship's operational options and deterrent value across both presence and warfighting tasks in theater.

Following stateside upkeep and training, GABRIELLE GIFFORDS again took up 7th Fleet rotational duties as the Navy matured the Western Pacific LCS presence model. By late 2023, she was operating with allies around Japan and the Philippine Sea. On December 7, 2023, she executed a bilateral maneuver and communications exercise with JMSDF destroyer JS IKAZUCHI (DD 107), part of ongoing interoperability and maritime security efforts. In 2024, she continued the pattern of operating from Singapore and Southeast Asian waters. On February 9, 2024, the ship and her embarked air detachment trained with BRP GREGORIO DEL PILAR (PS 15) of the Philippine Navy to practice coordinated surveillance and maneuvering. In early May 2024, she departed Singapore for a short logistics stop in Phuket, Thailand, on May 5, followed by flight-deck operations while transiting the Strait of Malacca, underscoring the chokepoint-transit awareness role LCS frequently performs in the region. On August 6, 2024, she hosted a Destroyer Squadron 7 change-of-command ceremony in Singapore, a reminder of the ship's role as a forward platform for command and partner-engagement events. In October 2024, sailors from the ship participated in a community relations event at a Singapore school during an in-port period.

In early 2025, as her second extended 7th Fleet rotation wound down, Navy announcements noted temporary manning actions in Singapore to ready the ship for a trans-Pacific return and a maintenance phase in the United States.

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USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS Image Gallery:

The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the GABRIELLE GIFFORDS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on November 10, 2017.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GABRIELLE GIFFORDS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on September 28, 2018.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GABRIELLE GIFFORDS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on March 2, 2019.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GABRIELLE GIFFORDS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on September 1, 2019. The ship is now equipped with the new Naval Strike Missile (NSM) for integration tests. The NSM - manufactured by the Norwegian company Kongsberg and its US partner Raytheon - will become the new over-the-horizon anti-ship missile for the littoral combat ships.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the GABRIELLE GIFFORDS at Vigor shipyards, Seattle, Wash., on June 12, 2022. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS is in the final stages of a Drydocking Selected Restricted Availability (DSRA).

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows USS GABRIELLE GIFFORDS at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 10, 2022.

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