Keel of Navy’s new USS Wichita ship celebrated at Wisconsin shipyard

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the service of the second ship named Wichita.

A keel-laying ceremony was held this week at a shipyard in Wisconsin for what will become the third USS Wichita commissioned by the Navy.

The initials of Kate Tom Staples Lehrer were carved into a sheet of steel that will become part of the future USS Wichita’s keel. The nationally known author is married to Wichita native Jim Lehrer, the former PBS anchor of “The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour.”

Kate Tom Staples Lehrer was selected by the secretary of the Navy to be the ship’s sponsor. Her duties include not only the ceremonial breaking of a champagne bottle on the littoral combat ship’s bow, but she also is expected to remain in contact with the ship’s crew and be involved in special events throughout the life of the ship, according to Keith Little, senior manager of public relations for Lockheed Martin MST, the company building the ship.

He said the keel-laying ceremony Monday in Marinette, Wis., drew 50 to 100 people.

The Wichita will be part of the Freedom class of warships. The ships are slightly smaller than the Navy’s guided missile frigates. They can be used as a small assault transport with a flight deck and hangar space.

The Wichita will be 378 feet long and will have a top speed of more than 40 knots, according to the Navy’s website. It is scheduled to be launched in 2016, Little said.

This marks the third ship the Navy has named USS Wichita.

Original USS Wichita

The original USS Wichita, a heavy cruiser, was commissioned on Feb. 16, 1939, and decommissioned in 1947. It was awarded 13 battle stars for service during World War II. It was one of the first ships to protect convoys on the Murmansk Run, which brought supplies to the Soviet Union, and participated in the invasion of North Africa in 1942.

It also served throughout the Pacific Theater from 1943 to 1945. The first Wichita ship also served as part of the occupation force in Japan after the war before being scrapped in 1959.

A plaque commemorating the first USS Wichita is at Veterans Memorial Park, 339 N. Veterans Parkway, along the east bank of the Arkansas River in downtown Wichita.

In 1968, another vessel was named the Wichita. It was an auxiliary replenishment oiler and served for 24 years. It earned four battle stars in Vietnam and was decommissioned in 1993.

Kate Tom Staples Lehrer, a native of Texas, is the author of “Out of Eden,” which was published in 1996 and received the Western Heritage Award. Her husband, Jim Lehrer, was born May 19, 1934, in Wichita.

The couple has been married since 1960.

This story was originally published February 10, 2015 at 11:55 AM with the headline "Keel of Navy’s new USS Wichita ship celebrated at Wisconsin shipyard."