Navy: New Combat Ship To Be Named USS Tulsa

The US Navy will name one of its five new combat ships the USS Tulsa.

Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced Thursday, June 6, 2013, that the next three joint high speed vessels will be named USNS Yuma, USNS Bismarck and USNS Burlington, and the next two littoral combat ships will be named USS Billings and USS Tulsa.

The littoral combat ships, or LCS,  are named to recognize cities that are one of the five most-populated communities in a state.

The USS Tulsa will become the second ship that has been named for Oklahoma's second largest city.

The LCS is designed to be fast and agile and able to execute missions close to shore.

USS Tulsa is an Independence-variant littoral combat ship and is being built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama. It will be 419 feet long and have a beam length of 103.7 feet and be capable of operating at speeds in excess of 40 knots, according to the Pentagon.

The first Navy ship named after Tulsa was decommissioned in 1946. It was a gunship that began service in 1924, eventually being stationed in the South China Sea and helping with the war efforts off China, the Philippines and Australia.

It became known as the Galloping Ghost of the South China Coast. 

The Associated Press contributed to this story.