USS Sioux City's decommissioning brings shock, disappointment

It did nothing to cool the warmth Sioux City felt for the first ship to bear the city's name.

A community that had poured thousands of dollars into the celebration, impressing Navy brass with its enthusiasm and support for its namesake ship, looked forward to a relationship expected to last 30 years or more for the duration of the ship's service.

The relationship will end much sooner than expected.

On Monday, the USS Sioux City will be decommissioned, mothballed after less than five years of service.

"I was both surprised and disappointed," said Siouxland Chamber of Commerce President Chris McGowan, who worked closely with the commissioning committee that raised money for and organized the commissioning ceremony and festivities. "Surprised in that we had been assured by officials in Washington that the USS Sioux City was secure through fiscal 2024, which is over a year from now. I was disappointed because our community demonstrated an unprecedented level of support, and all involved with this ship deserved a better fate."

Source of pride

The news, which spread on Aug. 4, shocked local residents who had excitedly followed news of the ship since its naming was announced in February 2012, through its construction and January 2016 christening at a Wisconsin shipyard until it officially joined the Navy fleet on that November day in 2018 at Annapolis, Maryland.

They had helped raise a significant portion of the $800,000 needed for commissioning, plus more than $250,000 to create a legacy education fund to help USS Sioux City crew members and their families pay for educational expenses. Ship commanders and crew members who visited Sioux City received celebrity treatment, and the ship's sailors of the year were honored each fall at the Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner.

"This community did what it always does, it stood up to say thank you to the men and women who serve in our armed forces, and I could not be prouder of the way Sioux City and Siouxland responded to and supported this ship and the crew," McGowan said.

The abrupt end to the USS Sioux City's service shouldn't dim the city's pride in the ship and its crew, said the ship's sponsor, Mary Winnefeld, whose role will end on Monday when she, along with McGowan, witnesses the decommissioning at Naval Station Mayport in Jacksonville, Florida, the ship's home port.

"While I wish we had more notice regarding the upcoming decommissioning of the USS Sioux City, the most important thing is that this ship and her crew served extremely well both overseas and in the Caribbean. The ship did everything our nation asked her to do, with distinction," said Winnefeld, who made her share of trips to Sioux City in the lead-up to the commissioning.

"The people of Sioux City and Iowa should be very proud of everything USS Sioux City accomplished in her short life. I certainly am," Winnefeld continued in her emailed statement. "I'm also delighted to have enjoyed such a wonderful relationship with the ship and her namesake city, from the day we laid this beautiful ship's keel through her last day of service. Sioux City has truly set the standard for the responsibility a namesake city carries in supporting a U.S. Navy ship."

No longer wanted

It obviously takes more than support from a namesake city to keep a ship among the Navy's active fleet, and the USS Sioux City was among a group of littoral combat ships, LCS for short, that had come under scrutiny.

The LCS was conceived as a small, fast ship that, thanks in part to a jet propulsion system, could maneuver in shallow, or littoral, waters closer to shore than other Navy ships. It was designed to be reconfigured quickly to take on various missions rather than serve only one specific purpose.

But the Freedom class variant to which the USS Sioux City belonged was plagued almost from the start with mechanical issues that cost millions of dollars to repair, making it a target for criticism from military experts, some of whom said the ships were a waste of money and were no longer wanted by the Navy.

In an emailed response to questions, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who spoke at the ship's commissioning at Annapolis, implied as much, saying it costs $50 million-$70 million annually to maintain the LSC fleet. According to Ernst, there was discussion that the Department of Homeland Security may want the ships for drug interdiction missions, but it now seems no one wants them.

Ernst expressed disappointment at what appears to be a waste of millions of taxpayer dollars and thousands of dollars more Siouxlanders spent supporting the ship and its crew.

"I first learned about the USS Sioux City being decommissioned in July. There is so much pride and heritage that goes with the city of Sioux City, and we dedicated all of that toward this ship," Ernst said. "To find out the Navy knew they did not want the USS Sioux City is very frustrating. I'm extremely disappointed the Navy allowed Siouxlanders to spend thousands of dollars to help fund the commissioning of their namesake ship. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I'm continuing to look for answers as to how this happened and the plan going forward for decommissioned ships and the money wasted on this program."

'Fiscal constraints'

In March 2022, a U.S. Navy budget proposal recommended the decommissioning of the USS Sioux City and several other LCS. A Navy ship inactivation schedule in August 2022 listed the ship's decommissioning for June 30. That date passed, and the ship remained, apparently through some sort of political dealing, and was expected to be in service for at least another year.

Explanations for the decommissioning of a relatively new $362 million ship short of that 2024 time line have been hard to find.

"To maintain our strategic advantage, particularly under fiscal constraints, it is important for the Navy to carefully review our force structure regularly and divest of legacy capabilities that no longer bring sufficient lethality to maximize our effectiveness in deterring and defeating potential adversaries," said a spokeswoman at Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two at Naval Station Mayport, where other LCS in addition to the USS Sioux City are based.

Retired Rear Adm. Frank Thorp, chairman of the USS Sioux City's commissioning committee, said he didn't learn of the decommissioning until informed by McGowan a week ago Friday. While he didn't know the reasons for the decision, Thorp said, he understood the Navy leadership's responsibility to use its resources wisely.

"Decisions have to be made how to best apportion resources for our nation's defense," said Thorp, who will be unable to attend the decommissioning. "The Navy needs to put our limited resources in the best place, and it's all about national security.

"We all love this ship and the crew and the connection we have with them," Thorp said. "When you're involved in the life of a ship ... it becomes like a relative, so there's that emotional connection."

Counter drug trafficking

During its service, the USS Sioux City participated in counter drug trafficking operations in the Caribbean Sea, on one occasion in 2021 working with the U.S. Coast Guard to stop two vessels and seize approximately 1,080 kilograms of cocaine worth an estimated $44 million.

Last year, the USS Sioux City was the first LCS to operate with other Navy vessels in the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Northern Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Gulf. The ship returned to Mayport from that mission in October.

Instead of going out on new missions, the USS Sioux City, come Monday, will be designated as Out of Commission, In Reserve, the Navy spokeswoman said in emailed responses to questions. The ship's approximately 75 crew members will receive new assignments.

Once decommissioned, the spokeswoman said, the USS Sioux City will be eligible for sale to another country's military and will be docked at one of three Inactive Ships Maintenance Offices, the nearest of which is in Philadelphia. Its equipment could be removed for use on remaining LCS. Future recommissioning is unlikely.

Barring a last-minute reprieve, it appears the ship's service is over.

"Be assured that our community is exhausting every avenue to express our disappointment and dissatisfaction with this development," McGowan said. "Siouxland earned a national reputation for the lengths to which we went to build an exceptionally strong long-term bond with this ship and her crew, and we will forever be known for that."