Kingsville Honored at Sea

Built in 1942 during the second World War, Naval Air Station Kingsville has seen 77 years of operation training countless pilots as one of the Navy’s two locations in the country for strike training, and serving as a home for even more servicemen.
From both World Wars, to Korea and Vietnam, and the deserts of the Middle East, servicemen from Kingsville have laid down their lives for their country.
The city’s dedication is not going unnoticed by the U.S. Navy, which announced Feb. 4 that in honor of the city, the Navy will be commissioning an Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship, which will be named the USS Kingsville, according to a U.S. Navy press release.
Kingsville Mayor Sam Fugate announced the news during a press conference at Kingsville City Hall, as reported by Caller Times.
“The citizens of Kingsville have been steadfast partners to the Navy,” Fugate said. “I am confident this ship will continue that legacy of service for decades to come.”
The vessel will be built in Mobile, Ala., and launched in 2021. According to navy.mil, the USS Kingsville will measure at 419 feet from bow to stern and will carry a crew compliment of up to 75 sailors. “The LCS is a highly maneuverable, lethal and adaptable ship designed to support focused mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare, and surface warfare missions,” reads the Navy’s official description of the ship.
While plans were tentative leading up to the construction of the base, the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 prompted the Navy to finalize the deal on the land which the future base would be built, creating a temporary air station with no plans to persist after the war’s completion. After being leased to Texas A&I in 1946, the base entered dormancy until its permanent reestablishment in 1951 at the beginning of the Korean War, according to the Naval Air Station Kingsville’s official website.
Mayor Fugate’s sentiments that the USS Kingsville’s symbolic nature of the bond between the city and the country’s Navy is well-deserved and resounds true to the spirit of the city. With such a long history of cooperation with the Navy, there are few distinctions more deserving for the Navy to express its gratitude than to honor the city’s name, especially for a city as comparatively small as Kingsville.