City Of Detroit Selected As Official Commissioning Site For USS DETROIT (LCS 7)

DETROIT, July 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Navy League of the United States proudly announced today that the City of Detroit has been selected as the commissioning site for the Navy's newest Littoral Combat Ship, USS DETROIT (LCS 7).  The ship is currently being built in Marinette, WI, and will be formally commissioned on the Detroit River in downtown Detroit in the Spring 2016.

"We are looking forward to hosting USS DETROIT crewmembers and their families during commissioning week," said CAPT John G. McCandless, USN (Ret.), Commissioning Committee Chairman and President of the Metropolitan Detroit Council, Navy League of the United States.  "There will be many opportunities for Detroit-area residents to show support for their namesake ship and her crew, not only during commissioning week, but at events leading up to commissioning."

Jay Farner, President and Chief Marketing Officer at Quicken Loans, the nation's second largest mortgage lender and the country's largest Veterans Affairs (VA) home loan lender, is the Honorary Chairman of the USS Detroit Commissioning Committee. The committee's responsibilities include recruiting other local and regional members of the business, civic and philanthropic community to support the commissioning ceremony.

"Quicken Loans holds a deep sense of gratitude toward the men and women in our military who so selflessly give of themselves to ensure our freedom and way of life," said Farner. "It is an honor to spearhead this effort and get our community excited about supporting this ship that not only carries our name, but represents our great city in its future endeavors around the globe."

The keel for the new USS DETROIT, the sixth U.S. Navy warship to be named for the City of Detroit, was laid on November 8, 2012 by Barbara Levin, the ship's sponsor and wife of Senator Carl Levin.  This fall, the vessel will be christened USS DETROIT (LCS 7) when Mrs. Levin breaks the traditional bottle of champagne over the ship's bow to launch the ship into the Menominee River, which defines the border between Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The ship's maiden voyage will be in Spring 2016 when she sails to Detroit for her commissioning.

"It's so fitting that we will commission the USS Detroit, which embodies the next generation of our Navy's capabilities, in a city focusing on new horizons," said Barbara Levin. "As the USS Detroit's sponsor and a lifelong resident of Detroit, I am truly proud that we will have this opportunity to introduce a great ship and a great city to one another."

Littoral Combat Ships are fast, agile, focused-mission platforms designed for operation in near-shore environments yet capable of open-ocean operation. The LCS class consists of two variants, the monohull Freedom-class and the trihull Independence-class. USS DETROIT (LCS 7) will be the seventh Littoral Combat Ship and the fourth Freedom-class LCS to join the U.S. Navy fleet. 

When completed, USS DETROIT (LCS 7) will have a core crew of 50 Navy men and women. The ship is 387 feet in length, has a beam of 57 feet and a draft of only 14 feet. She will be powered by two diesel engines for normal cruising, but also has two Rolls Royce MT30 gas turbines that will propel the ship ds in excess of 40 knots. Following her commissioning, USS DETROIT will sail to her homeport of San Diego.

Additional information on USS DETROIT (LCS 7) is available on the following websites:  www.ussdetroit.blogspot.com and navy.mil.

About The Navy League of the United States
The Navy League of the United States (NLUS) was founded in 1902 with the encouragement of President Theodore Roosevelt. The Navy League has provided a powerful voice for a stronger sea service to Congress and to the American people. The Navy League is comprised of 43,000 civilians in more than 245 councils around the world working to support sea service members and their families. The Metropolitan Detroit Council, NLUS, sponsors many activities in support of the men, women and families of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S-flag Merchant Marine.

About Quicken Loans
Detroit-based Quicken Loans Inc. is the nation's second largest retail home mortgage lender and the nation's largest Veterans Affairs (VA) lender. The company closed a record $80 billion of volume across all 50 states in 2013. Quicken Loans generates loan production from web centers located in Detroit, Cleveland and Scottsdale, Arizona. The company also operates a centralized loan processing facility in Detroit, as well as its San Diego-based One Reverse Mortgage unit. Quicken Loans ranked #1 in customer satisfaction among all home mortgage lenders in the United States by J.D. Power for the past four consecutive years; 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.

Quicken Loans was named among the top-30 companies on FORTUNE magazine's annual "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for the last 11 consecutive years, ranking #5 in 2014. It ranked in the top-15 of Computerworld magazine's "100 Best Places to Work In Technology" for the past ten years, ranking #1 in 2014 for the second consecutive year. It was also recognized as a 2014 Military Friendly Employer by Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs. The company moved its headquarters to downtown Detroit in 2010, and now more than 8,500 of its 10,000-plus team members work in the city's urban core. For more information about Quicken Loans, please visit www.quickenloans.com, on Twitter at @QLnews, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/QuickenLoans.

SOURCE The Navy League of the United States