LPD 27 to be christened

PASCAGOULA, Miss. - The Navy will christen the newest amphibious transport dock ship, USS Portland (LPD 27), Saturday, May 21 during a 10 a.m. CST ceremony at the Huntington Ingalls Industries shipyard in Pascagoula. This will be the third U.S. Navy ship named Portland, honoring both the Oregon seaport and Maine’s largest city. Portland will be the 11th San Antonio-class ship, and is currently scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in 2017. The ships are designed to support embarking, transporting, and landing elements of over 800 Marines with both a flight deck, which accommodates CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters and MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, and a well deck that can launch and recover landing craft and amphibious vehicles. (Source: DoD, 05/20/16)