The Minnesota Navy League Council is thrilled to announce that the Navy has officially approved May 21, 2022 as the commissioning date of USS Minneapolis Saint Paul (LCS 21) in the port of Duluth.  The commissioning will occur at 10:00 CDT at the Port of Duluth.  

“We have worked diligently over the past two years to support the commissioning of the ship and are excited to finally be able to see this work come to fruition,” said LCS Commissioning Chair Brian Skon.  “It will be an exciting day for the state and the city as this is the first time a Navy ship has been commissioned in the state.”  The Navy League is planning a series of events during the week for the ship, the crew and the public. 

PCS Minneapolis Saint Paul Crew moves aboard ship2022 is off to an exciting start for the crew of PCU Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21). Over the course of six weeks, three waves of crew members traveled to Escanaba, MI to begin laying the groundwork to move aboard the ship.

The Engineering Department made up the majority of the first wave which arrived in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula during the first week of January. The first few weeks for the engineers were filled with “walking the spaces and checking the alignments [of each system] to see if there were any discrepancies,” said Electronics Mate 1st Class Christopher Reisch. “The weather was a big transition, but workwise, it was refreshing because we are able to work on a ship again.”

This week marks a significant milestone for Minneapolis Saint Paul Sailors!!!  The entire crew officially has moved aboard the ship and is beginning to make final preparations for commissioning and sail around! This entails firing up all systems and becoming familiar with operating the ship as a crew. 

During February, the final wave of sailor arrived in Escanaba Michigan and MSP Sailors also braving the frigid temperatures and taking advantage of training on a variety of the ship's weapons, engineering, and communications systems from Lockheed Martin representatives!

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Spar has begun its transit to its new homeport in Duluth after a year-long maintenance period in Baltimore.

Spar, a 225’ buoy tender, and her crew will sail from Baltimore then through the St. Lawrence Seaway and across the Great Lakes to its homeport in Duluth.

Upon arriving in Duluth, Spar’s crew will assume CGC Alder’s area of responsibility and continue maintaining aids to navigation, domestic icebreaking, search and rescue and law enforcement.

Recent events in our community have shown that we have work to do with regard to diversity, inclusion, and social justice.  The United States Navy League, Minnesota Council is proud to present the African American Submarine Experience at 6:00 pm on March 31, 2022 at the Graduate Minneapolis, 615 Washington Avenue Southeast, Minneapolis, MN 55414.

The Minnesota Navy League Council is bringing together a once in a lifetime group of five distinguished African American submariners to talk about their personal and profound journeys as United States Navy submariners.   Each of our speakers have had an African American “First” in their career as they became distinguished leaders in one of the most challenging jobs in the Navy.  The speakers include men and women, officer and enlisted, active duty and retired, from multiple generations whose service span over seventy years covering conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Cold War and various conflicts in the Middle East. 

he Navy accepted delivery of the future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (LCS 21) at the Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM) shipyard Nov. 18.

The future USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul is the 11th Freedom-variant LCS designed by the Lockheed Martin-led industry team at Fincantieri Marinette Marine, Marinette, Wisconsin. Delivery marks the official transfer of the ship from the shipbuilder, part of a Lockheed-Martin-led team to the Navy.