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USS Cincinnati (LCS 20)

USS CINCINNATI is the tenth INDEPENDENCE - class Littoral Combat Ship and the fifth ship in the Navy named for the city in Ohio.

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Crew List:

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

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USS CINCINNATI History:

From the outset, USS CINCINNATI followed the INDEPENDENCE-variant production rhythm at Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. The keel was laid on April 10, 2017, and the trimaran took shape through 2017-2018 before her sponsor, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, christened the ship in Mobile in early May 2018. In mid-February 2019, the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey completed acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico. The program office publicly reported the strong trial performance on February 14, 2019. Delivery followed at Mobile on June 21, 2019, marking the ship's formal transfer to the fleet and setting up her fall commissioning. CINCINNATI entered service during a pier-side ceremony at Gulfport, Mississippi, on October 5, 2019, then immediately began the transit to the Pacific, arriving at her homeport of San Diego under LCSRON ONE on November 20, 2019.

Post-delivery and early fleet integration filled 2020. The Navy placed the ship into a planned Post-Shakedown Availability in San Diego with a DoD contract that scoped correction of trial cards and approved engineering changes. Work was slated to run through November 2020. Coming out of PSA, the crew pivoted to certifications and local operations in Southern California operating areas in late 2020 and into 2021, working through the LCS training pipeline and small-crew proficiency events. By late summer 2021, CINCINNATI was back to regular underway periods from Naval Base San Diego, conducting evolutions that included rigid-hull inflatable boat operations and search-and-rescue swimmer training events documented on August 10, 2021, and additional sorties through the end of the year.

In 2022, the ship remained based in San Diego and continued qualifications and local sea time. She was photographed underway in the San Diego channel on April 29, 2022, and later that summer, on July 15, 2022, held a change-of-command ceremony aboard the ship at Naval Base San Diego. Through 2022 and early 2023, CINCINNATI supported the LCSRON's deploy-prep ecosystem - rotational crew workups, basic and integrated phase events, and weapons/systems checks that are part of the LCS readiness model.

Public outreach punctuated 2023. CINCINNATI sailed north to participate in Los Angeles Fleet Week, entering the Port of Los Angeles on May 23, 2023, for the week's pier-side demonstrations and community relations, before returning to San Diego to continue routine operations and maintenance.

In 2024, the ship's leadership turnover reflected her march toward a Western Pacific tasking. On May 9, 2024, at a waterfront ceremony in San Diego, Cmdr. Robert Burke was relieved by Cmdr. Matthew Knuth as commanding officer. The squadron highlighted the ship's role in training deploying LCS crews and in mission-package testing achievements during Burke's tour. Later in the summer, on July 26, 2024, CINCINNATI again marked a leadership handoff at Naval Base San Diego when Cmdr. Andrew Recame relieved Cmdr. Knuth in a flight-deck ceremony. Across the remainder of 2024 the crew continued preparations for extended operations west of the International Date Line.

On January 17, 2025, CINCINNATI conducted a combat-systems assessment visit with Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division - an at-sea stop that allowed warfare-center engineers to verify the ship's combat systems readiness for deployment. With those checks complete, CINCINNATI crossed into U.S. 7th Fleet and began a sequence of presence and exercise events across Oceania and Southeast Asia. She made a U.S. Independence Day-themed liberty and engagement visit to Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, from July 9-13, 2025, supporting public tours and community events while reinforcing U.S.-Marshall Islands ties during Joint Task Force-Micronesia activities. In October, the ship joined Philippine-led Exercise SAMASAMA 2025 in the South China Sea. On October 13, 2025, she was photographed maneuvering in a multinational formation with BRP ANTONIO LUNA (FF 151), BRP JOSE ANDRADA (PC 370), JS ONAMI (DD 111), and HMCS MAX BERNA N YS (AOPV 432). The at-sea phase, reported throughout the week of October 8-16, emphasized surface maneuver, maritime domain awareness, and multiship interoperability against the backdrop of ongoing regional tensions.

CINCINNATI then shifted south to Borneo for the Brunei leg of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) series. She pulled into Muara around October 21, 2025, hosted the opening ceremony in Bandar Seri Begawan on October 23, and conducted the sea phase in the South China Sea before the exercise concluded on October 30, 2025. During CARAT Brunei 2025 the ship hosted visiting leadership from DESRON 7 and ran combined events - medical, damage control, and tactical communications - designed to sharpen bilateral maritime security coordination.

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USS CINCINNATI Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Sebastian Thoma and show the CINCINNATI at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on November 28 and November 29 (aerial photo), 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CINCINNATI at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on December 28, 2021.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the CINCINNATI at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on May 29, 2022.

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

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show USS CINCINNATI departing Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on October 11, 2022.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning on May 27, 2023, during an open ship event aboard USS CINCINNATI (LCS 20) as part of Fleet Week Los Angeles at San Pedro, Calif.

			Click here for more Photos.

The photos below were taken by me and show USS CINCINNATI at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on July 26, 2024. Earlier that day, Cmdr. Andrew J. Recame relieved Cmdr. Matthew T. Knuth as CO during a change-of-command ceremony on board the ship.

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

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