The Navy commissioned its newest amphibious assault ship, USS America, in an official ceremony in San Francisco Saturday.
Secretary of the Navy, Ray Mabus, delivered the commission ceremony’s principal address. while Lynne Pace, wife of former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Peter Pace, served as the ship’s sponsor. Pace gave the traditional order to “man our ship and bring her to life.”
USS America is the first ship of its class, replacing the Tarawa class of amphibious assault ships. The new class will be capable of supporting current and future aircraft such as the tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey and F-35B Lightning II. This class of ships, including USS America and the future USS Tripoli, will not include a well deck.
USS America will call San Diego home, having just returned from a goodwill tour of the Americas last month that included Colombia, Cuba, and Brazil.
The ship’s commanding officer is Captain Robert A. Hall Jr., who will lead a crew of 1,200 sailors and nearly 1,900 Marines.
USS America is the fourth U.S. Navy ship to bear this name. The first America was originally a racing schooner launched in 1851. The second America transported troops during World War I, while the third ship was a Kitty-Hawk class aircraft carrier that operated from the Vietnam War through Operation Desert Storm.
