Navy's New Nine

Ahoy!


The fleet is scheduled to add nine new ships in 2017, a year that could kick off 45's plan to increase the fleet to 350 ships.

The new year may bring four additions to the troubled Littoral Combat Ship program, and the Navy anticipates commissioning the supercarrier Gerald R. Ford. There are two destroyers and two submarines slated to join the service as well.

The LCS program's four new ships will be the Gabrielle Giffords, Little Rock, Omaha and Sioux City, according to Naval Sea Systems Command. Two more destroyers, the John Finn and Rafael Peralta, are also in the mix to join the service.

Two Virginia-class attack submarines, the Washington and Colorado, are set to be commissioned in 2017. All commissioning dates are subject to change.

Meanwhile, the silent service is saying goodbye to the Los-Angeles class submarine San Francisco, which will become a moored training ship. Two more subs in that class, the Dallas and Buffalo, will face dismantlement. Decommissioning will occur after the boats go inactive throughout 2017.