Friday, March 8, 2013

LPD leaves Pascagoula

PASCAGOULA, Miss. -- Ingalls Shipbuilding's amphibious transport dock Arlington left the Pascagoula yard Friday morning, headed toward Norfolk for an April 6 commissioning. LPD 24 is a 684-foot-long vessel designed to transport up to 800 Marines, their fighting vehicles and aircraft. It's the 8th in the LPD 17-class to be built by the company. The ship is named Arlington for Arlington County, Va., where American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, killing 184 people. (Source: Mississippi Press, Sun Herald, 03/08/13)