Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) announced on August 21 the successful completion of acceptance sea trials for the amphibious transport dock USS Portland (LPD-27). The San Antonio-class ship, built at HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division, spent last week with the U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV), performing more than 200 trial events that included both in-port and underway portions.
«These sea trials provide an opportunity to showcase the ship’s tremendous capabilities and the build and test skills of our shipbuilders», Ingalls President Brian Cuccias said. «The success of these milestones is important as we continue to remain competitive and keep our supplier base and production lines active in the construction of these quality amphibious warships».
Key demonstrations performed during acceptance trials for INSURV by the Ingalls’ test and trials team included: the anchor-handling demonstration, ballast/de-ballast demonstration, detect-to-engage exercise, running the ship at full power and steering. Now Ingalls’ shipbuilders will put their final touches on the ship in preparation for delivery this year.
«Our team puts in a lot of hard work and effort to make these sea trials successful», said George Jones, Ingalls’ vice president of operations. «We get better with every LPD we build, and we look forward to delivering a very complex and capable ship to our sailors and Marines. As always, this success was a joint effort between our shipbuilders, test and trials team and our partners at Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Gulf Coast».
USS Portland (LPD-27) is named for the largest city in the state of Oregon. The state has a long history with the U.S. Navy, going back to the construction of hundreds of World War II Liberty and Victory ships at three Portland-area shipyards.
Ingalls has delivered 11 San Antonio-class ships to the U.S. Navy, including USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) in 2016. In June, Ingalls received an advance procurement contract from the U.S. Navy to provide long-lead-time material and advance construction activities for LPD-29, the 13th amphibious transport dock of the San Antonio class. Ingalls will lay the keel of the 12th San Antonio-class ship, USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28), this fall.
«Portland’s successful sea trial proves the dedication and quality of work our shipbuilders continue to provide to the LPD program», said Steve Sloan, Ingalls’ LPD program manager. «I’m proud of the performance of the shipbuilders and the ship during acceptance trials, and now we will continue to work the final fit-and-finish touches before LPD 27’s delivery this fall».
The San Antonio class is a major part of the U.S. Navy’s 21st century amphibious assault force. The 684-foot-long/208-meter-long, 105-foot-wide/32-meter-wide ships 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.
General Characteristics
| Builder | Huntington Ingalls Industries |
| Propulsion | Four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick Diesels, two shafts, 41,600 shaft horsepower |
| Length | 684 feet/208 m |
| Beam | 105 feet/32 m |
| Displacement | Approximately 24,900 long tons (25,300 metric tons) full load |
| Draft | 23 feet/7 m |
| Speed | In excess of 22 knots/24.2 mph/38.7 km/h |
| Crew | Ship’s Company: 374 Sailors (28 officers, 346 enlisted) and 3 Marines. Embarked Landing Force: 699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge capacity to 800 |
| Armament | Two Bushmaster II 30-mm Close in Guns, fore and aft; two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers, fore and aft: ten .50 calibre/12.7-mm machine guns |
| Aircraft | Launch or land two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters or two MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft or up to four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters, AH-1 or UH-1 helicopters |
| Landing/Attack Craft | Two LCACs or one LCU; and 14 Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles/Amphibious Assault Vehicles |
San Antonio-class
| Ship | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| USS San Antonio (LPD-17) | Avondale | 07-12-2003 | 01-14-2006 | Norfolk, Virginia |
| USS New Orleans (LPD-18) | Avondale | 12-11-2004 | 03-10-2007 | San Diego, California |
| USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19) | Ingalls | 11-19-2004 | 12-15-2007 | Norfolk, Virginia |
| USS Green Bay (LPD-20) | Avondale | 08-11-2006 | 01-24-2009 | San Diego, California |
| USS New York (LPD-21) | Avondale | 12-19-2007 | 11-07-2009 | Norfolk, Virginia |
| USS San Diego (LPD-22) | Ingalls | 05-07-2010 | 05-19-2012 | San Diego, California |
| USS Anchorage (LPD-23) | Avondale | 02-12-2011 | 05-04-2013 | San Diego, California |
| USS Arlington (LPD-24) | Ingalls | 11-23-2010 | 02-08-2013 | Norfolk, Virginia |
| USS Somerset (LPD-25) | Avondale | 04-14-2012 | 05-01-2014 | San Diego, California |
| USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) | Ingalls | 11-02-2014 | 10-08-2016 | San Diego, California |
| USS Portland (LPD-27) | Ingalls | 02-13-2016 | ||
| USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) | Ingalls | |||
| LPD-29 |
Portland Completes Acceptance Sea Trials