By Ens. Jalen Robinson, USS Coronado (LCS 4) Public Affairs
PORTLAND (May 3, 2019) – The Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Coronado (LCS 4) held a change of command while in dry dock at Vigor Shipyard in Portland, Oregon, May 3.
The ship is homeported in San Diego but is currently located at Vigor Industries Shipyard in Portland conducting an industrial maintenance availability.
Cmdr. James Davenport, a native of Bethalto, Illinois, assumed command of the ship from Cmdr. Lawrence Repass, a native of Chicago.
Repass completed a successful command tour with Coronado, which included MQ-8C “Firescout” testing, exercise Phoenix Fire and multiple certifications.
“Having command of Coronado and her crew has been the greatest honor of my naval career,” said Repass. “Coronado’s crew met every milestone and exceeded all expectations while advancing the warfighting capability of LCS. I could not be more proud of their achievements and the lasting impact they made on the future of this ship and the LCS program.”
Repass’s next assignment is commanding officer of USS Freedom (LCS 1) homeported in San Diego.
Davenport, who recently served as chief staff officer at Commander, Littoral Combat Ship Squadron (COMLCSRON) ONE, said he was honored to assume command of such a dedicated crew and to complete her scheduled maintenance and return the ship to the Fleet ready for tasking.
“I look forward to leading such a tremendous crew,” said Davenport. “Coronado and her Sailors are known as standard bearers of excellence across the LCS community.”
Along with USS Freedom (LCS 1), USS Independence (LCS 2), and USS Fort Worth (LCS 3), Coronado currently serves as a test ship, conducting research and development (R&D), helping to bring cutting edge technology and new capabilities to the warfighter.
Unlike traditional LCS, R & D testing ships are manned by single permanent crews and do not rotate on and off the ship. The ships are still deployable assets and must maintain all required certifications.
LCS vessels are high-speed, agile, shallow draft, mission-focused surface combatants designed for operations in the littoral environment, yet fully capable of open ocean operations. As part of the surface fleet, LCS has the ability to counter and outpace evolving threats independently or within a network of surface combatants. Paired with advanced warfighting capabilities, LCS provides a broad set of emerging capabilities as well as a diverse set of options to Fleet Commanders across the entire spectrum of naval operations.
