She is the sixth ship to be named for Charleston, the oldest and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina.

[6] In 2002, the United States Navy initiated a program to develop the first of a fleet of littoral combat ships.

[7] On 29 December 2010, the Navy announced that it was awarding Austal USA a contract to build ten additional Independence-class littoral combat ships.

The ship's sponsor, U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne, welded his initials into the keel of Charleston as part of the ceremony.

[2] Charleston was commissioned on 2 March 2019[5] and she has been assigned to Littoral Combat Ship Squadron One[10] at her homeport of San Diego.