US Navy to christen USS Portland amphibious transport dock

The U.S. Navy is set to christen its 11th amphibious transport dock, the USS Portland (LPD 27) on May 21.

The ceremony will be held in Pascagoula, Mississippi at Huntington Ingalls Industries’ Ingalls Shipbuilding yard.

Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Christopher Owens, director of the U.S. Navy’s expeditionary warfare division, is the ceremony’s keynote speaker while Bonnie Amos, wife of retired U.S. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, is the ship’s sponsor.

Ingalls Shipbuilding was awarded a contract for the Portland (LPD 27), the 11th ship in the LPD 17 program on May 15, 2012. Official construction started August 2, 2013 with a keel authentication ceremony.

Finally, the 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ship was launched February 13, 2016.

LPD 27 will be the third ship named Portland. It is named for the largest city in the state of Oregon.

The first USS Portland (CA 33) was the lead ship of a new class of heavy cruisers. Launched in 1932, it was named after the city of Portland, Maine, and saw battle during World War II. The second USS Portland (LSD 37), an amphibious landing ship commissioned in 1970, was named after both Portland, Maine and Oregon. She completed 14 deployments to the Caribbean, Mediterranean and North Atlantic.

HII was also awarded a procurement contract for the twelfth San Antonio-class ship in December 2015.