USS Cleveland (LCS 31) Is On The Move

CLEVELAND, OH – The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship – USS Cleveland (LCS 31) built by Lockheed Martin and Fincantieri Marinette Marine at their shipyard in Marinette, WI, has departed Cleveland and is traveling across Lake Erie toward Port Colborne. Her ETA is 05:00 Thursday.

Upon arrival, she will hook up with the ocean tug Grande Baie to assist her transit through the Welland Canal and up the Seaway, destination Mayport, FL, her homeport.

Ocean tug Grande Baie will assist the vessel, by guiding/controlling her. This vessel cannot use the Hands-Free Mooring (HFM) vacuum system due to the unique shape of her hull. Instead, line-handlers on the lock walls drop mooring lines down to the crew on the ship’s deck. The tug does not actually tow her like a dead ship, the tug’s job is to act as a braking mechanism and dynamic rudder to maintain precise lateral control in confined spaces. Because the USS Cleveland’s powerful waterjets lose steering efficiency at slow canal speeds, she operates under her own power but relies on the tug’s 360-degree thrusters to counteract crosswinds, absorb momentum, and prevent the hull from swinging into the concrete lock walls.

Janey Anderson – Ship Junkies