The amphibious warship John P. Murtha (LPD-26) is set to leave Ingalls Shipbuilding on Thursday ahead of its October commissioning in Philadelphia, according to Huntington Ingalls Industries.
Murtha is the 10th San Antonio-class warship (LPD-21) built by HII and delivered to the Navy in May.
The ship is named for the late Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who served 37 years in the Marine Corps and 36 years in Congress. Murtha was the long-time chairman of the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee until his death in 2010.
Two more San Antonio ships are currently planned – Portland (LPD-27) which was christened at the Pascagoula, Miss. yard in May and Fort Lauderdale (LPD-28) for which the service awarded Ingalls a $200 million advanced procurement contract in April.
The 25,000-ton “ship will carry 699 troops with a surge capacity to 800-and have the capability to transport and debark air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (MV-22). These ships will support amphibious assault, special operations and expeditionary warfare missions through the first half of the 21st century,” according to the Navy.
Looking past the class, the Navy is set to use the San Antonio design as a baseline for its next generation LX(R) amphibious warship design.
