San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) departed from HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division on Monday, en route to its commissioning site in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Fort Lauderdale was delivered to the U.S. Navy in March following acceptance sea trials and is the 12th San Antonio-class ship delivered by HII. Additional San Antonio-class ships are under construction at Ingalls, including Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and the first Flight II amphibious ship in the San Antonio class, Harrisburg (LPD 30). Later this year, fabrication will begin on the 15th San Antonio-class ship, Pittsburgh (LPD 31).
“Watching Fort Lauderdale sail away to join the Navy’s fleet is a very proud moment for our entire LPD shipbuilding team and our skilled workforce,” said Mike Pruitt, Ingalls LPD program manager. “Our shipbuilders have done an outstanding job building a mission capable ship for these sailors and our country.”
“Ingalls Shipbuilders take great pride in knowing that each and every amphibious ship that leaves this shipyard will support our Navy and Marine Corps team defending our nation,” Ingalls Shipbuilding President Kari Wilkinson said. “We at Ingalls remain committed to this partnership and consider it a privilege to serve those who serve.”
The San Antonio class is a class of amphibious transport docks, also called a “landing platform, dock” (LPD), used by the United States Navy. These warships replace the Austin-class LPDs (including Cleveland and Trenton sub-classes), as well as the Newport-class tank landing ships, and the Charleston-class amphibious cargo ships that have already been retired.Amphibious transport docks are a major part of the Navy’s 21st century expeditionary force, deployed with a U.S. Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force for amphibious and expeditionary crisis response operations that range from deterrence and joint-force enablement to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) is the largest military shipbuilding company in the United States as well as a provider of professional services to partners in government and industry. HII is an all-domain defense and technologies partner, recognized worldwide as America’s largest shipbuilder. With a 135-year history of trusted partnerships in advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities ranging from the most powerful and survivable naval ships ever built, to unmanned systems, ISR and AI/ML analytics. Headquartered in Virginia, HII’s skilled workforce is 44,000 strong. HII, ranked No. 371 on the Fortune 500, was formed on March 31, 2011, as a spin-off of Northrop Grumman.