PASCAGOULA, Miss., Oct. 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Huntington Ingalls Industries' (NYSE: HII ) Ingalls Shipbuilding division hosted Gen. James Amos, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Bonnie Amos Tuesday to meet with shipbuilders on the amphibious transport dock Portland (LPD 27). Mrs. Amos is the ship's sponsor.
"Today, I thanked the Ingalls shipbuilders who are building LPD 27, and I got a promise from every one of them that this will be the very best ship in the fleet," said Mrs. Amos, who visited Ingalls for the ship's keel-laying ceremony in August. "The fact this ship is going to carry our Marines and sailors and perform vital missions for the nation is pretty remarkable. When you add that component of Marines being able to do the nation's bidding off this ship, it is even more impressive."
A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://newsroom.huntingtoningalls.com/ImageLi...ailsID=781 .
Gen. Amos added, "I came to the Ingalls shipyard for one overriding reason: to thank the men and women here who help keep our amphibious forces at sea. As the importance of forward presence only grows, even in an era of tighter budgets, we're counting on the American patriots who build our ships to deliver us all the amphibious capability the nation can afford."
LPD 27, named in honor of Oregon's most populated city, is currently 10 percent complete and is expected to be delivered to the Navy in 2017. Ingalls is also building John P. Murtha (LPD 26), currently at 45 percent complete. Somerset (LPD 25) was delivered to the U.S. Navy on Oct. 18 and will be commissioned on March 1, 2014, in Philadelphia.
"LPD 27 couldn't have a better sponsor than Bonnie Amos, and I'm grateful that she took the time today to show how much she appreciates the hard work and dedication of our shipbuilders," said Ingalls Shipbuilding President Irwin F. Edenzon. "We're proud of the work we're doing to support the Navy-Marine Corps team. The amphibious ships we build are capable, adaptable, flexible and reliable—whether it's humanitarian relief, anti-terrorism missions, supporting special operations or amphibious landings, these ships are real enablers."
In addition to more than 10,000 Ingalls shipbuilders, there are 650 suppliers from 38 states that support the LPD 17 program. Ingalls spends approximately $175 million a year with this vital industrial base.
Built to be survivable and flexible, these complex warships ships enable the services to carry out their missions without constraints or additional assets. The 11 ships of the LPD 17 class are a key element of the Navy's ability to project power ashore. Collectively, they functionally replace more than 41 ships (the LPD 4, LSD 36, LKA 113 and LST 1179 classes of amphibious ships), providing the Navy and Marine Corps with modern, sea-based platforms that are networked, survivable and built to operate with 21st century platforms, such as the MV-22 Osprey .
The LPD 17-class ships are 684 feet long and 105 feet wide and displace approximately 25,000 tons. Their principal mission is to deploy the combat and support elements of Marine Expeditionary Units and Brigades. The ships can carry up to 800 troops and have the capability of transporting and debarking air cushion (LCAC) or conventional landing crafts, augmented by helicopters or vertical take-off and landing aircraft such as the MV-22. These ships will support amphibious assault, special operations or expeditionary warfare missions through the first half of the 21st century.
Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) designs, builds and maintains nuclear and non-nuclear ships for the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard and provides after-market services for military ships around the globe. For more than a century, HII has built more ships in more ship classes than any other U.S. naval shipbuilder at its Newport News Shipbuilding and Ingalls Shipbuilding divisions. Employing more than 37,000 in Virginia, Mississippi, Louisiana and California, HII also provides a wide variety of products and services to the commercial energy industry and other government customers, including the Department of Energy. For more information about HII, visit:
- HII on the web: www.huntingtoningalls.com
- HII on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HuntingtonIngallsIndustries
- HII on Twitter: twitter.com/hiindustries
CONTACT: Bill Glenn william.glenn@hii-co.com 228-327-1671
