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USS Manchester (LCS 14)

USS MANCHESTER is the seventh INDEPENDENCE - class Littoral Combat Ship and the second ship in the Navy named for the industrial city in south central New Hampshire.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS MANCHESTER. 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 MANCHESTER memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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USS MANCHESTER History:

The Navy announced USS MANCHESTER as an INDEPENDENCE-variant LCS built by Austal USA at Mobile, Alabama; her keel was laid on June 29, 2015 with Senator Jeanne Shaheen as sponsor. She was christened on May 7, 2016 and launched on May 12, 2016. After builder's workups, she completed U.S. Navy acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico on December 13-15, 2017, and the Navy took delivery on February 28, 2018, the final milestone before commissioning. She commissioned at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on May 26, 2018, entering service with Littoral Combat Ship Squadron ONE (LCSRON-1).

Following commissioning, MANCHESTER began her change-of-homeport transit to San Diego with a sequence of documented port calls: Norfolk, Virginia; Mayport, Florida; Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, and she conducted a Panama Canal transit en route. She moored at Naval Base San Diego for the first time on June 19, 2018, concluding her maiden voyage from Mobile.

Soon after arrival, the ship took part in Fleet Week events on the U.S. West Coast. She was an open-ship participant at Los Angeles Fleet Week in San Pedro on September 1, 2018, then departed San Diego on September 30, 2018 for San Francisco Fleet Week (October 1-8), where she joined the Parade of Ships on October 5, 2018 and hosted public tours. These pier-side community events followed the standard LCS post-commissioning public outreach period before longer maintenance and training phases.

In 2019, MANCHESTER continued local operations and post-shakedown work. She entered a four-month Post-Shakedown Availability (PSA) at Vigor Shipyard, Seattle. She is documented there on August 1, 2019 during the availability. For overall command performance across the calendar year, the ship earned the 2019 Battle "E" (Battle Effectiveness) Award, announced by Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet on March 18, 2020.

From late 2021 into mid-2022, MANCHESTER underwent maintenance periods at BAE Systems San Diego Ship Repair, with the ship photographed there on November 29, 2021, and again on May 29, 2022, before returning to routine operations from San Diego. On June 17, 2022, the Gold Crew held a change-of-command ceremony in San Diego, with Cmdr. Colleen Moore relieving Cmdr. Robert Burke.

MANCHESTER deployed to the Indo-Pacific in April 2023 for an extended rotation under Destroyer Squadron SEVEN in U.S. 7th Fleet. In June 2023, she operated near Guam for Exercise PACIFIC GRIFFIN 2023, a bilateral U.S.-Singapore exercise. During the sea phase in the Philippine Sea, she worked alongside USS SHILOH (CG 67) and USNS CESAR CHAVEZ (T-AKE 14) with Republic of Singapore Navy units including RSS TENACIOUS (71) and RSS DAUNTLESS (LMV 21). Crews also supported Typhoon Mawar recovery efforts at Asan Beach, Guam.

Immediately thereafter, MANCHESTER joined Multilateral Naval Exercise KOMODO (MNEK) 2023 hosted by the Indonesian Navy around the Makassar Strait. On June 8, 2023, she participated in the exercise's channel transit, conducting HADR-focused evolutions and multinational maneuvering with regional navies. In July 2023, the ship shifted to the central Pacific in support of the Oceania Maritime Security Initiative (OMSI) with embarked U.S. Coast Guard personnel, conducting maritime domain awareness and fisheries enforcement operations near the Marshall Islands. She is documented underway on July 21, 2023, and arriving Majuro on July 23, 2023, during this OMSI phase.

In the autumn, MANCHESTER moved to Southeast Asia for bilateral engagement. She arrived Lumut, Malaysia on October 31, 2023, and supported Maritime Training Activity (MTA) Malaysia 2023 across October 31-November 6 (approx.), to include ship-hosted receptions and cross-deck events. On November 5, 2023, she conducted flight operations with the Royal Malaysian Navy in the Strait of Malacca, advancing interoperability and aviation deconfliction procedures. The ship continued theater security cooperation and capacity-building events into early 2024. In the Philippines in February, she conducted ship tours and a damage-control demonstration for BRP JOSE RIZAL (FF 150), BRP ANTONIO LUNA (FF 151), and BRP VELASQUEZ (AGR 702) on February 8, 2024, and supported a community-relations project near Subic Bay on February 15, 2024. On February 29, 2024, MANCHESTER was documented operating in the vicinity of the Mindoro Straits, reflecting ongoing presence operations around key maritime chokepoints.

Across the 18-month 7th Fleet rotation, MANCHESTER executed multiple port visits to six partner and allied nations - Indonesia, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand - and took part in the marquee events noted above (PACIFIC GRIFFIN 2023, MNEK 2023, OMSI 2023, and MTA Malaysia 2023). She returned to Naval Base San Diego on September 11, 2024, concluding the deployment.

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USS MANCHESTER Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning on September 1, 2018, during an open ship event aboard USS MANCHESTER as part of Fleet Week Los Angeles at San Pedro, Calif.

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

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MANCHESTER departing Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on September 30, 2018. The MANCHESTER is proceeding to San Francisco to participate in Fleet Week San Francisco.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning on October 4, 2018, during an open ship event aboard USS MANCHESTER (LCS 14) as part of Fleet Week San Francisco.

			Click here for more Photos.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MANCHESTER during the Parade of Ships during Fleet Week San Francisco on October 5, 2018.

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

The photo below was taken by Michael Jenning and shows the MANCHESTER during her four-month Post Shakedown Availability (PSA) at Vigor Shipyard, Seattle, Wash., on August 1, 2019.

The photo below was taken by Sebastian Thoma and shows the MANCHESTER at BAE San Diego Ship Repair at San Diego, Calif., on November 29, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MANCHESTER at BAE San Diego Ship Repair at San Diego, Calif., on May 29, 2022.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USS MANCHESTER at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 10, 2022.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USS MANCHESTER at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 15, 2024.

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