The USS Cleveland is set to arrive in downtown Cleveland this weekend, a day of harbor spectacle ahead of its official commissioning into service on May 16.
The Littoral Combat Ship, LCS 31, is expected near Huntington Bank Field as a flotilla of private boats and other watercraft begins escorting it into port at sunrise Saturday. People are being asked to gather at lake parks with flags for a Color Guard, part of the public welcome that will lead into the Navy ceremony next weekend.
The ship carries an estimated price tag of $600 million to $800 million and is the fourth vessel to bear Cleveland’s name. The Navy says its motto will be Forge a Legacy, a nod to the city’s steel industry, tying the ship to the manufacturing history that helped define the region.
The commissioning had first been planned for last fall, when it was thought President Donald Trump would attend. There is still no word on whether Trump will be in Cleveland on May 16, leaving the focus this week on the arrival itself and on the public events the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation has organized around it.
During the commissioning, sponsor Robyn Modly will give the order to man our ship and bring her to life, and the commissioning pennant will be hoisted as the USS Cleveland officially enters the fleet. Her husband, Thomas Modly, is the former acting secretary of the Navy.
For Cleveland, the weekend marks both a Navy milestone and a civic one: the city is about to watch its name placed on a warship for the fourth time, and this time the ship is coming in by way of its own waterfront.
