Well, the welcome os a little late, as the U.S.S Independence launched last month, but, now there are pictures! This is the first of the Navy’s tri-hulled ships and, I admit, it looks pretty bad ass. Like one of those pesky Mario Brothers turtles.

From the attractive, yet brainy group over at DVice (SciFi’s tech blog):

We’ve been hearing rumblings about the U.S. Navy’s triple-hulled ships, but here’s one that was launched last month, the U.S.S Independence. Built by General Dynamics, it’s called a “littoral combat ship” (LCS), and the trimaran can move huge weapons around faster than any ship in the Navy. Ironic that with all that high tech built in, the ship reminds us of the Merrimac ironclad from Civil War days.

Sweet. Fast weapons … *drool*

You know the greatest thing about the Navy? Every time there’s a war, they give the Marine Corps a ride.