Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle says he was in awe of the honor bestowed on the city earlier this week.
On Monday, the Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, presided over a ship naming ceremony. The USS Omaha will be the 4th vessel to be named after the City.
The craft will be one in a series of littoral combat ships to be commissioned by the U-S Navy. Mayor Suttle says he’s proud that the city has received such an honor.
"I was just in awe of the formality our city was blessed with by having the Secretary of the Navy come and make such positive statements about this new class of ship. And it’s really a very high tech, high speed, lightweight type of vessel. And to have both Sioux City and Omaha being the first two of the ships is just awesome.”
Mayor Suttle says there will be approximately 18 of these vessels created when all is said and done. He says the USS Omaha will be ready for christening in 2016.