Amphibious warship USS Green Bay (LPD-20) left Naval Station San Diego, Calif. on Monday to join the U.S. Navy’s forward deployed forces in Sasebo, Japan, according to the service.
The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock (LPD-17) replaces the Austin-class LPD Denver (LPD-9) that was decommissioned in August.
Once in Japan and under the command of the U.S. 7th Fleet, Green Bay will be part of the three ship Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and will embark with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) based in Okinawa, Japan.
“The crew has worked hard to get Green Bay ready,” said commanding officer Capt. Kristy McCallum in a Navy statement.
“By my count, we completed a total of 23 training, certification and maintenance cycles in six months. As we’ve trained, we have prepared ourselves to be ready for a dynamic security environment and diverse missions.”
Green Bay’s move was announced last year as part of a reshuffle of amphibious assets and mine countermeasure (MCM) ships to Japan.
Avenger-class MCMs Pioneer (MCM-9) and Chief (MCM-14) arrived in Japan last year.
The Navy will also swap Japan deployed carrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) with USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) in the coming years. Two ballistic missile defense capable Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers are also slated to move from San Diego to Japan.
