San Antonio class LPD Fort Lauderdale is en route to Florida.

According to information published by HII on July 12, 2022, San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) departed from HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division, en route to its commissioning site in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
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San Antonio amphibious transport dock Fort Lauderdale (Picture source: US DoD)

Fort Lauderdale was delivered to the U.S. Navy in March following acceptance sea trials and is the 12th San Antonio-class ship delivered by HII. Additional San Antonio-class ships are under construction at Ingalls, including Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29) and the first Flight II amphibious ship in the San Antonio class, Harrisburg (LPD 30). Later this year, fabrication will begin on the 15th San Antonio-class ship, Pittsburgh (LPD 31).

LPD 28 is scheduled to be commissioned on July 30 in Fort Lauderdale. It is named to honor the Florida city’s historic ties to the U.S. Navy, which date back to the 1830s and include an important naval training center during World War II.

Amphibious transport docks are a major part of the Navy’s 21st-century expeditionary force, deployed with a U.S. Marine Corps Air-Ground Task Force for amphibious and expeditionary crisis response operations that range from deterrence and joint-force enablement to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

About the San Antonio class

The San Antonio class amphibious transport docks replace the Austin-class LPDs (including Cleveland and Trenton sub-classes), as well as the Newport-class tank landing ships, and the Charleston-class amphibious cargo ships that have already been retired.

The San Antonio class is powered by four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick diesel engines driving two shafts. She can reach a top speed of 22 knots (41 km/h). She has a crew of 28 officers and 333 enlisted sailors.

The ship is armed with two Bushmaster II 30 mm close-in-guns, two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers, two Mk 41 eight-cell VLS for quad-packed ESSMs, and several twin M2 Browning machines gun turrets.

San Antonio amphibious transport dock Fort Lauderdale (Picture source: US DoD)