Future USS Portland (LPD 27) Set for Namesake City Commissioning

SAN DIEGO - The Navy's newest San Antonio-class landing platform dock, the future USS Portland (LPD 27) will be commissioned at 10 a.m. on April 21 at Terminal 2 in Portland.

Deputy Secretary of Defense, Patrick M. Shanahan will deliver the commissioning ceremony's principal address. Mrs. Bonnie Amos, wife of retired Gen. James F. Amos, 35th commandant of the Marine Corps, will serve as sponsor of the ship.  The ceremony will be highlighted by a time-honored Navy tradition when Mrs. Amos will give the first order to "man our ship and bring her to life!"

Capt. Jeremy R. Hill, a native of Star Prairie, Wisconsin is the commanding officer of the ship and leads the core crew of 385 officers and enlisted personnel. The 25,000-ton Portland was built by Huntington Ingalls Industries in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship is 684 feet in length, has a beam of 105 feet, and a navigational draft of 23 feet. The ship is powered by four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick Diesels and two shafts to speeds up to 22 knots.

Portland is the 11th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship built by Huntington Ingalls Industries. It is the third ship to bear the name USS Portland, however it is the first ship to be named solely for Oregon's largest city.

The first was heavy cruiser USS Portland (CA 33), which was commissioned on Feb. 23, 1933. Serving throughout World War II, CA-33 saw action at a number of important battles, including Guadalcanal, Leyte Gulf, Corregidor and Okinawa.

The second, dock landing ship USS Portland (LSD 37), was commissioned Oct. 3, 1970. Over the course of nearly 33 years of service, LSD-37 participated in a number of important operations, including the 1976 evacuation of American citizens from Lebanon, the 1983 multi-national peacekeeping mission to Beirut, Lebanon, and deployment of Marines to Kuwait in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The mission of the San Antonio-class landing platform dock is to transport the U.S. Marine Corps 'mobility triad' - that is, advanced amphibious assault vehicles, air-cushioned landing craft and the MV-22 Osprey aircraft - to trouble spots around the world.

USS Portland will be homeported at Naval Base San Diego.

For those unable to attend, the ceremony will be live-streamed at: http://www.navy.mil/ah_online/live/ah-live.asp. The link will become active approximately five minutes prior to the event (9:55 a.m. PST).