HII amphib has home port

SAN DIEGO – The Navy announced Feb. 10 that San Diego will be the home port of the new amphibious landing ship USS John P. Murtha, named for the former Pennsylvania congressman and Vietnam War veteran. Murtha, who served in the Marine Corps, became the first Vietnam vet elected to the House of Representatives. He died in 2010 at age 77. The San Antonio-class amphib is scheduled to be stationed at San Diego Naval Base following its commissioning this summer from the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune 02/11/16) Gulf Coast Shipbuilding Note: USS Portland (LPD 27), the final ship of the current San Antonio class, had its keel laid in August 2013 and is under construction at HII-Pascagoula.