On Friday, April 12, HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division authenticated the keel of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD-29). Ship’s Co-sponsors Shana McCool and Kate Oja declared the keel to be «truly and fairly laid».
Quotes from Ceremony
«The ships in the San Antonio-class are designed to land Marines anywhere in the world in support of a wide range of military operations – from power projection to threat mitigation to humanitarian aid. They are truly remarkable ships and ones we are proud to build», said Kari Wilkinson, Ingalls’ vice president of program management. «LPD-29 is the 13th San Antonio-class ship under construction at Ingalls. Like the ship’s hero namesake, Richard M. McCool Jr., LPD-29 will be strong and capable. Our men and women in the Navy and Marine Corps deserve nothing less».
«Thank you for having us here today and allowing us to say few words about our grandfather. My grandfather was very humble and one of the most caring men you could ever hope to meet. He never showed off. When asked about the war, he just said, ‘I did my job, and I did what any other person would do.’ My cousins and I grew up seeing pictures on the wall of the Medal of Honor from President Truman, pictures of his ship, but to us he was always just grandpa», said Shana McCool, LPD-29 Ship’s Co-Sponsor
Namesake background
USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD-29) is the first U.S. Navy ship named in honor of Richard M. McCool Jr., who received the Medal of Honor for «conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty» as commanding officer of infantry landing support craft during the Battle of Okinawa.
Sponsors
Shana McCool and Kate Oja, the granddaughters of Richard M. McCool Jr., are the Ship’s Co-sponsors.
San Antonio-class
The San Antonio class is the latest addition to the U.S. Navy’s 21st century amphibious assault force. The 684-foot-long/208.5-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.
Ingalls has delivered 11 San Antonio-class ships to the U.S. Navy and has two more under construction including USS Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD-29). USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) will launch in 2020 and is scheduled to deliver in 2021. In March, Ingalls received a $1.47 billion, fixed-price incentive contract from the U.S. Navy for the detail design and construction of LPD-30. The ship will be the 14th in the San Antonio class and the first Flight II LPD. Start of fabrication on LPD-30 is scheduled for 2020.
Ship Facts and Characteristics
| Propulsion | Four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick Diesels, two shafts, 41,600 shaft horsepower/31,021 kW |
| Length | 684 feet/208.5 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: 380 Sailors (29 officers, 351 enlisted) and 3 Marines. Embarked Landing Force: 699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge capacity to 800 |
| Armament | Two Mk-46 30-mm close in Guns, fore and aft; two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers, fore and aft: ten .50 caliber/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 AH-1 Cobra or UH-1Y Venom helicopters |
| Landing/Attack Craft | Two Landing Craft Air Cushions (LCACs) or one Landing Craft Utility (LCU); and 14 Amphibious Assault Vehicles |
San Antonio-class
Flight I
| 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 | 12-14-2017 | San Diego, California |
| USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) | Ingalls | |||
| USS Richard M. McCool (LPD-29) | Ingalls |
Flight II
| Ship | Builder | Launched | Commissioned | Homeport |
| USS Harrisburg (LPD-30) |