EMBARRASSMENT: The short life of the new USS Little Rock: Design flaws, setbacks lead to decommissioning.

Some 8,500 people turned out on Dec. 16, 2017, to watch the commissioning of the new $440 million USS Little Rock — draped in red, white and blue bunting — at Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park.

That now appears to have been the ship’s only bright moment.

Not even six years later, the USS Little Rock will be decommissioned on March 31 at Mayport Naval Station in Florida, where it is stationed.

The 387-foot-long vessel was imperiled from the start with significant design flaws that the Navy has concluded cannot be overcome.

U.S. Navy officials first announced at a media briefing almost a year ago that nine Freedom-class littoral combat ships would be decommissioned as part of the 2023 fiscal year budget.

“It’s somewhat of an embarrassment,” said Paul Marzello, the Naval Park’s executive director.

“Embarrassment” is a pretty good word for the Navy’s surface ship procurement this century.