Jane Edwards
A Huntington Ingalls Industries division has christened the U.S. Navy’s 11th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship at the former’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Ingalls Shipbuilding division held the christening ceremony for Portland (LPD 27) Saturday with U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Christopher Owens, director of the expeditionary warfare division at the Navy, as the keynote speaker, HII said Saturday.
The ceremony was also attended by Brian Cuccias, president of Ingalls Shipbuilding; Bonnie Amos, the ship’s sponsor and wife of retired Marine Corps commandant Gen. James Amos; and Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-Mississippi).
The christening for the ship named after Portland, Oregon, comes weeks after Ingalls Shipbuilding delivered the 10th San Antonio-class warship, John P. Murtha (LPD 26), to the service branch.
HII noted that the division has been awarded at least $300 million in advance procurement funds for the 12th San Antonio-class vessel called Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28).
The landing platform dock ship is designed to support the service branch’s marine air ground task force in disaster relief, humanitarian assistance and expeditionary missions.
