MOBILE, A.L.(KMIT)-  A keel laying ceremony for the future USS Pierre was held on Friday at the Austal USA Shipyard in Mobile, Alabama.  South Dakota Senator John Thune was one of the event’s speakers.

Thune’s daughter, Larissa Thune Hargens, is the ship’s sponsor.

The USS Pierre is the final ship of a successful line of Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ships that Austal USA has built for the Navy.