Since Tulsa became a city in 1898, three ships have carried its name.
Each vessel has a unique story to tell both about the Tulsans involved in naming the ships as well as the contributions each vessel has made to history.
The first “Tulsa” was a cargo vessel built in 1919 under the Emergency Fleet Corporation enacted during WWI when peacetime suddenly turned to war without ships at the ready. Next up was a PG-22 Navy Gunboat, commissioned in 1923 that spent time patrolling the Panama Canal Zone before moving to the Asiatic Fleet where it remained through WWII. Finally, a brand new U.S.S. Tulsa, commissioned in February 2019, will carry the Tulsa name for a third time. This Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) is designed to be fast and highly maneuverable to guard against threats in shallow coastal water regions.