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USS Savannah (LCS 28)

Photo by Michael Jenning

USS SAVANNAH is the 14th INDEPENDENCE - class Littoral Combat Ship and the sixth ship in the Navy to bear the name.

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Crew List:

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

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USS SAVANNAH History:

USS SAVANNAH is an INDEPENDENCE-variant littoral combat ship built by Austal USA at Mobile, Alabama. The construction contract for the hull that became LCS 28 was awarded on June 23, 2017. Fabrication proceeded through 2018-2019; the ship's keel was laid on September 20, 2019, in Mobile, marking the formal start of assembly. She was christened by her sponsor during a ceremony on August 29, 2020, and launched - floated off Austal's building platform and down the Mobile River - on September 3, 2020, to begin the fitting-out phase alongside at the yard.

Following systems installation, harbor trials, and builder's underway events in the Gulf of Mexico, SAVANNAH completed U.S. Navy acceptance trials on May 14, 2021. These trials included full-power runs, steering checks and quick reversals, anchor tests, and a detect-to-engage sequence with the ship's combat system to certify material readiness for delivery. After correcting punch-list items, Austal USA delivered SAVANNAH to the Navy on June 25, 2021, transferring custody and commencing the post-delivery period.

SAVANNAH was commissioned on February 5, 2022, in Brunswick, Georgia, as the Navy's fourteenth INDEPENDENCE-variant LCS. Immediately after the commissioning events and loadout, she sailed for the Pacific, transiting the Panama Canal en route to her homeport. SAVANNAH arrived at Naval Base San Diego on March 1, 2022, joining LCSRON ONE and integrating into the San Diego-based INDEPENDENCE-variant community. Through the spring and summer of 2022, she executed post-delivery shakedown events and basic training in the Southern California Operating Areas, qualifying watch teams, exercising the aviation detachment on the flight deck, and completing the standard certifications for material readiness, damage control, navigation, and combat systems.

SAVANNAH is manned under the LCS dual-crew construct. On October 7, 2022, the ship's GOLD Crew held an assumption of command ceremony on board at San Diego, establishing the Blue/Gold rotation that allows extended forward presence while alternating crews. Through late 2022 and into 2023, the ship's crews continued training and certifications in Third Fleet waters, including maritime security and surface warfare mission areas appropriate to the hull's modular design.

In early 2023, SAVANNAH participated in the North American Maritime Security Initiative (NAMSI) PACEX 2023 off Manzanillo, Mexico, a full-scale, multinational law-enforcement-focused exercise with the United States Coast Guard, Royal Canadian Navy, and Mexican Navy (SEMAR). On March 27-31, 2023, the ship conducted passing exercises, coordinated surface and air tracking, and ran a search-and-rescue nexus to refine combined procedures and interoperability with regional maritime security partners. Back in San Diego, LCSRON ONE executed a routine rotation of command teams: on May 19, 2023, SAVANNAH held an exchange of command for the Blue Crew as she prepared for more advanced events. During the summer operational period, the ship supported elements of Large Scale Exercise 2023, integrating with joint and interagency partners in fleet-level command-and-control scenarios.

On October 24, 2023, SAVANNAH successfully completed a high-visibility live-fire demonstration employing a containerized launcher system to fire a STANDARD MISSILE (SM-6) as part of a Navy endeavor to experiment with adaptable long-range fires from modular platforms. Although not a baseline LCS combat-system capability, the event underscored the Navy's push to explore distributed maritime operations and augment magazine depth by leveraging deck-mounted, containerized launch solutions.

Ahead of deployment, SAVANNAH conducted a pre-deployment combat systems assessment at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division. On February 9, 2024, the ship entered Port Hueneme to work with In-Service Engineering Agents and subject-matter experts for end-to-end checks and pre-sail verifications of weapons, sensors, data links, and electronic warfare suites. Returning to San Diego, the crew completed logistics loading and final certifications.

SAVANNAH then commenced her maiden Western Pacific/Indo-Pacific deployment in the late summer of 2024 under the rotational LCS model, with BLUE and GOLD Crews exchanging on-hull to keep the ship forward. By early October, she was operating in Seventh Fleet's area and making initial engagement port visits. On October 5, 2024, she arrived at Muara, Brunei, for a scheduled visit, during which ship's company met Royal Brunei Navy officers and held sports exchanges ashore. Returning to sea, SAVANNAH continued presence operations in the South China Sea. On October 28, 2024, she conducted integrated operations in the region alongside USS OMAHA (LCS 12), emphasizing routine maritime security and surface warfare training in contested waters. In parallel that month, the ship coordinated with partner maritime patrol aircraft - P-8 detachments from the Royal New Zealand Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force - during a New Zealand-led multilateral patrol, sharpening air-maritime integration tactics and shared domain awareness across a wide operating box.

During December 2024, the ship remained active in the South China Sea and surrounding approaches. On December 6, 2024, she was documented in underway operations there. On December 13, 2024, she conducted flight operations near the Balabac Strait, the critical passage linking the Sulu and South China Seas. SAVANNAH then made a notable engagement port call to Sihanoukville, Cambodia, arriving on December 16, 2024 - the first U.S. Navy ship visit to Cambodia in eight years - underscoring the gradual expansion of naval diplomacy after a long pause. While alongside on December 18, 2024, the ship hosted Commander, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Samuel Paparo, together with Royal Cambodian Navy leaders, for a tour that highlighted the LCS's flexible architecture and the ship's embarked MH-60R capabilities as tools for maritime security cooperation.

SAVANNAH continued through a busy 2025 operating year across Seventh Fleet. From January 16-23, 2025, she took part in the French-led Exercise La Perouse 2025 in the eastern Indian Ocean, a multilateral interoperability event centered on complex air defense, maritime maneuver, and communications procedures. Major participating units included aircraft carrier FS CHARLES DE GAULLE (R 91), HMAS HOBART (DDG 39), HMCS OTTAWA (FFH 341), INS MUMBAI (D 62), ships from the Royal Malaysian Navy (including KD LEKIR and KD GAGAH SAMUDERA), HMS SPEY (P 234), and RSN patrol craft RSS INDEPENDENCE (97). The exercise strengthened cross-deck familiarization, information exchange, and combined response drills with a spectrum of close partners and allies. In the spring, SAVANNAH continued South China Sea presence operations; imagery placed her in the area on April 9 and April 16, 2025, conducting routine evolutions at sea as part of Seventh Fleet's day-to-day operations to uphold lawful maritime access.

In late April and through May 2025, the ship shifted to the Philippine archipelago for Exercise BALIKATAN 2025, the fortieth iteration of the bilateral U.S.-Philippines defense exercise. During BALIKATAN, SAVANNAH's crew led multiple days of live-fire gunnery, maneuvering drills, search-and-rescue, casualty evacuation, and VBSS evolutions alongside the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Air Force, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, adding tangible maritime interdiction and littoral warfare practice to the combined event. Throughout the deployment, the ship also executed theater security cooperation port visits across Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific - including Singapore, Brunei, Palau, the Republic of the Philippines, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands - providing maintenance windows, crew rest, and opportunities for defense engagement.

After roughly a year forward, SAVANNAH returned to Third Fleet waters and came back to San Diego on August 7, 2025, concluding her maiden 12-month Indo-Pacific deployment that spanned more than 26,000 nautical miles and 13 port visits.

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USS SAVANNAH Image Gallery:

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

The photos below were taken by me and show USS SAVANNAH departing Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on July 23, 2024.

The photos below were taken by me and show USS SAVANNAH at the Navy Fuel Farm, San Diego, Calif., on July 26, 2024.

The photos below were taken by me and show USS SAVANNAH at Naval Base San Diego, Calif., on July 26, 2024.

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