USS Freedom (LCS-1) in the context of Naval Station Bremerton

USS Fort Worth (LCS-3) is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship of the United States Navy. She is the first ship to be named after Fort Worth, Texas.

On 20 June 2020, the US Navy announced that they would be taking Fort Worth out of commission in March 2022, and placing her, along with Freedom, Independence, and Coronado in reserve.

A military attaché or defence attaché (DA), sometimes known as a "military diplomat", is an official responsible for military matters within a diplomatic mission, typically an embassy. They are usually high-ranking members of the armed forces who retain their commission while being accorded full diplomatic status and immunity.

Generally, a military attaché serves as a representative of their country's defense establishment, with responsibility over all aspects of bilateral military and defense relations. Their main roles include advising diplomatic officials on security matters and gathering intelligence on the host country's armed forces; they may also be tasked with other security issues, such as migration or law enforcement matters. The duties, qualifications, and management of a military attaché varies between governments.

A littoral combat ship (LCS) is a relatively small surface vessel designed for littoral warfare in near-shore operations. There are two LCS ship classes deployed by the United States Navy. The LCS was "envisioned to be a networked, agile, stealthy surface combatant capable of defeating anti-access and asymmetric threats in the littorals", although their ability to perform these missions in practice has been called into question.

Littoral combat ships are comparable to corvettes found in other navies. The Freedom class and the Independence class are the two LCS variants. Each is slightly smaller than the U.S. Navy's earlier Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate but larger than Cyclone-class patrol ships. Each has the capabilities of a small assault transport, including a flight deck and hangar for housing two SH-60 or MH-60 Seahawk helicopters, a stern ramp for operating small boats, and the cargo volume and payload to deliver a small assault force with fighting vehicles to a roll-on/roll-off port facility. Standard armaments include Mk 110 57 mm guns and RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missiles. They are also equipped with autonomous air, surface, and underwater vehicles. Possessing lower air defense and surface warfare capabilities than destroyers, the LCS emphasizes speed, flexible mission modules, and a shallow draft.

Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship.

Keel laying is one of the four specially celebrated events in a ship's life; the others are launching, commissioning, and decommissioning.