LCS 6 does well in 3rd shock test

A 10,000-pound explosive that was discharged close to the Littoral Combat Ship USS Jackson (LCS 6) on July 16 caused minimal shipboard damage, according to the Navy . The ship returned to Mayport (Fla.) Naval Station for additional examination. The mid-July test was the third and final Full Scale Shock Trial performed on USS Jackson. “The ship performed exceptionally well, sustaining minimal damage and returned to port under her own power,” the Navy said in a statement. The two previous tests were carried out June 10 and June 22. The July 16 explosion was large enough for the U.S. Geological Survey to have reported a 3.7 magnitude earthquake off the shores of Daytona Beach, Fla. On July 18, USGS reclassified the event as an “experimental explosion.” (Source: Defense News 07/19/16) Gulf Coast Note: USS Jackson, an all-aluminum trimaran built at Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Ala., is the first Independence variant and first LCS to undergo FSSTs.