Huntington Ingalls Industries will christen US Navy’s new landing platform dock John P. Murtha (LPD 26) at its Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, on Saturday, March 21.
The ship, 10th in the San-Antonio class of US Navy Amphibious Warships, is named for Congressman John P. Murtha. His daughter, Ms. Donna S. Murtha serves as Ship Sponsor.
These represent the latest addition to the Navy’s 21st century amphibious assault force. The 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ships, all built at Ingalls Shipbuilding, are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey. The ships support a Marine Air Ground Task Force across the spectrum of operations, conducting amphibious and expeditionary missions of sea control and power projection to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions throughout the first half of the 21st century.
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Naval Today Staff, Image: HII