Does anybody remember those littoral combat ships the US Navy started developing in 2001? Yup, those smaller marine vessels initially planned to be more agile to protect larger ships and nearby landmasses located within the littoral zones of the sea.

Nope? You don’t remember them? Well, that’s probably because the US Navy literally called them floating piles of garbage. If you did remember them, it’s either you served on one, or you heard of its infamous instances of issues that plague the vessels.

Whatever the case may be, let’s review how we got to this point in time and determine if these combat ships got any better.

Beginning Of The End

The beginning of the end was essentially the start of the program. But hey, the end has to start somewhere, right? US Navy cruisers and destroyers were designed specifically for open-ocean warfare during the Cold War.