| USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26) | |
|---|---|
| Career |  |
| Namesake: | John Murtha |
| Awarded: | 1 April 2011 [1] |
| Builder: | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
| Laid down: | 6 June 2012 |
| Acquired: | 2015 (scheduled) |
| Status: | Under construction |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock |
| Displacement: | 25,000 tons full |
| Length: |
208.5 m (684 ft) overall, 201.4 m (661 ft) waterline |
| Beam: |
31.9 m (105 ft) extreme, 29.5 m (97 ft) waterline |
| Draft: | 7 m (23 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Four Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, two shafts, 40,000 hp (30 MW) |
| Speed: | 22 knots (41 km/h) |
| Boats & landing craft carried: |
Two LCACs (air cushion) or one LCU (conventional) |
| Capacity: | 699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge to 800 total. |
| Complement: | 28 officers, 333 enlisted |
| Armament: |
Two 30 mm Bushmaster II cannons, for surface threat defense; two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers for air defense |
| Aircraft carried: | Four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters or two MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft may be launched or recovered simultaneously. |
USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26), will be the 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship of the United States Navy, and will be named in honor of Congressman John Murtha (1932–2010) of Pennsylvania. A former United States Marine Corps officer, Murtha was the first Vietnam War veteran elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, in 1974. Murtha served as either chairman or ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee from 1989 to 2010. All other ships of the class are named for American cities; however, two months after Murtha's death, on 9 April 2010, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus signed an official memo to the Chief of Naval Operations, designating the naming of LPD-26 as the John P. Murtha.[2] The Navy Times said the official announcement "added fuel to an already smoldering backlash",[3] because of Murtha's call for withdrawing from the Iraq War in 2005, and his public pre-trial condemnation of the Marines involved in the Haditha incident. John P. Murtha's keel was laid down on 6 June 2012, at the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi.[4]
References
This article includes information collected from the Naval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in the public domain. The entry can be found here.
- ↑ "Ingalls Shipbuilding Awarded U.S. Navy Contract Worth $1.5 Billion to Build Company's 10th San Antonio-Class Amphibious Transport Dock". Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc.. 1 April 2011. http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=217734. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
- ↑ Ewing, Phillip (13 April 2010). "Navy to name LPD 26 for Rep. John Murtha". Navy Times. http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/04/navy_murtha_gator_041310w/. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
- ↑ Ewing, Philip (28 April 2010). "Controversy flares over ship named for Murtha". Navy Times. http://www.navytimes.com/news/2010/04/navy_murtha_backlash_042710w/. Retrieved 2010-04-28.
- ↑ Havens, April M. (6 June 2012). "Ingalls Shipbuilding authenticates keel on LPD 26 John P. Murtha". The Mississippi Press. http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2012/06/ingalls_shipbuilding_authentic.html. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26). |
- Priolo, Gary P. (28 November 2011). "USS John P. Murtha (LPD-26)". Amphibious Photo Archive. NavSource Naval History. http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/09/0926.htm. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
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