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USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21)

LCS 21 at Baltimore, Md., on September 7, 2022. Photo by Michael Jenning.

USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL is one of the FREEDOM - class Littoral Combat Ships and the second ship in the Navy named after the cities in Minnesota.

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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL. 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 MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

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Accidents aboard USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL:

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USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL History:

USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL is a FREEDOM-variant littoral combat ship built for high-speed, shallow-draft operations with modular mission packages for mine countermeasures, surface warfare and anti-submarine warfare. She is the second U.S. Navy warship to carry the combined name of Minnesota's Twin Cities and the first surface combatant to do so. Her motto, "Aut viam inveniam aut faciam" ("I will either find a way or make one"), reflects both the heritage of Minneapolis and Saint Paul and the Navy's intent to employ the littoral combat ship concept flexibly. From the outset she has been assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two with her homeport at Naval Station Mayport, Florida.

The ship originated in the block-buy contract awarded on December 29, 2010, to the Lockheed Martin-led "Team FREEDOM" to build additional FREEDOM-variant LCS at Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Marinette, Wisconsin. After design refinement and module fabrication, her keel was laid at Marinette on February 22, 2018, formally marking the start of construction even as hull modules were already in assembly. Over the following year the steel monohull and superstructure were erected along the yard's build line.

On June 15, 2019, the future USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL was christened and launched at Marinette. Ship sponsor Jodi Greene broke a ceremonial bottle across the bow, after which the ship entered the Menominee River. Following launch, she shifted to a fitting-out berth for installation of combat systems, sensors, communications equipment and the combined diesel-and-gas-turbine propulsion train driving waterjets.

Sea trials began on Lake Michigan in August 2020, when the pre-commissioning unit conducted acceptance trials under the Board of Inspection and Survey. During these trials, she demonstrated propulsion, maneuvering, navigation, combat systems and aviation operations. At the same time, the Navy was confronting reliability problems in the FREEDOM-variant combining gear. Engineering work produced a modified design, and LCS 21 became the first ship in the class to receive the new configuration. After this modification and follow-on testing, the Navy accepted delivery of the future USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL at Marinette on November 18, 2021, making her the first FREEDOM-variant LCS delivered with the combining-gear fix and no operating restrictions on her main propulsion.

In the spring of 2022, the pre-commissioning unit left the shipyard for her namesake region. Transiting the Great Lakes, she arrived at Duluth, Minnesota, in mid-May 2022 to prepare for commissioning and to open to visitors from Minneapolis, Saint Paul and surrounding communities. On May 21, 2022, the ship was commissioned USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL (LCS 21) at Duluth, formally entering active service. Shortly afterward, she departed via the Soo Locks and the Saint Lawrence Seaway. During this transit, she took part in a search-and-rescue response to a mariner in distress in the Seaway, one of her first recorded operational incidents. On June 17, 2022, she made a logistics stop at Naval Submarine Base New London, Groton, Connecticut, then continued south to report to Mayport and join the LCSRON Two surface force.

Her first months at Mayport combined training and public outreach. From September 2 to 6, 2022, USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL visited Annapolis, Maryland, where she moored to support midshipman familiarization at the United States Naval Academy. Immediately afterward, she shifted to Baltimore for Maryland Fleet Week and Flyover Baltimore 2022, joining U.S. and allied ships including USS CARTER HALL (LSD 50), USNS NEWPORT (T-EPF 12), HMCS MONCTON and the Danish sail training ship DANMARK. While moored in Baltimore's Inner Harbor on September 11, 2022, DANMARK, under tug assistance, made contact with pier pilings and then with the bow of USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL, causing minor damage but no injuries. Inspections confirmed only light hull damage, and both ships completed their Fleet Week commitments. Later that month, with Hurricane Ian approaching, USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL sortied from Mayport in line with standard Atlantic Fleet storm-avoidance procedures, then returned to resume local operations.

Through late 2022 and 2023, the ship conducted training and readiness events from Mayport as the Navy consolidated maintenance concepts for FREEDOM-variant hulls equipped with the modified combining gear. These local operations, which included gunnery exercises, aviation drills and ship-handling evolutions in the Jacksonville operating areas, prepared the crew and systems for deployment while validating that the mechanical fix allowed reliable operations without the earlier propulsion restrictions.

On March 26, 2025, USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL departed Mayport for her maiden deployment to the U.S. Fourth Fleet area of responsibility in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. Embarked were Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 50 Detachment Three with an MH-60R helicopter and a U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment, enabling her to support counter-drug and maritime security missions under Commander, Task Force 45 and Joint Interagency Task Force South. Shortly after arriving on station, she began participating in maritime interdiction operations. In April 2025, she conducted two interdictions in the Caribbean Sea that resulted in the seizure of cocaine and marijuana shipments, combining helicopter surveillance, maritime patrol aircraft cueing, and small-boat boarding teams.

On May 1, 2025, USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL carried out another interdiction after a maritime patrol aircraft reported a suspicious vessel. Her helicopter observed packages being jettisoned, and an embarked boarding team from the Coast Guard recovered multiple bales of cocaine. Over the course of the deployment, the ship and her embarked units seized in total more than seven metric tons of narcotics with an estimated value in the hundreds of millions of dollars, contributing directly to multinational efforts to disrupt transnational criminal organizations in the region.

The deployment also included several port visits and cooperative events. In Curacao, she hosted the Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command and local officials, emphasizing regional maritime partnerships. Later, she conducted an anti-submarine warfare exercise with the Colombian Navy, using ship and helicopter sensors to practice detecting and tracking a simulated submarine contact. Near Jamaica, she worked with the Jamaican Defence Force Coast Guard on an interdiction demonstration, rehearsing detection, approach, boarding and search procedures, and subsequently visited Kingston for engagements and community-relations activities linked to the anniversary of the Jamaican Defence Force Coast Guard.

USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL returned to Mayport on October 14, 2025, after roughly seven months deployed and around 130 days at sea. The Navy reported operational availability above ninety percent during the cruise, highlighting the effectiveness of the modified combining gear and the crew's ability to conduct much of the required maintenance without contractor assistance.

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USS MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL arriving at Baltimore, Md., on September 7, 2022, to participate in the Maryland Fleet Week.

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning on September 7 and 9, 2022, and show the MINNEAPOLIS-SAINT PAUL at Baltimore, Md., during the Mary land Fleet Week.

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