The Americans have put to sea for factory sea trials a new amphibious transport ship - a San Antonio-type dock - USS Fort Lauderdale. It was launched last year.
On Thursday, the new amphibious helicopter dock ship USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) was put on factory sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. The vessel was launched on March 28 last year. She became the twelfth San Antonio-class ship built at Ingalls Shipbuilding for the US Navy.
The lead vessel of the series - USS San Antonio (LPD-17) - was launched in 2003 and commissioned in 2006. In total, according to open sources, 26 such ships should be built: 13 in the Flight I version and the same number in the Flight II version.
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| USS Fort Lauderdale. |
| Source: ©Dambiev |
Ships of the San Antonio type are universal naval units that allow for various amphibious operations at a great distance from the shores of the United States. The displacement of the San Antonio-type dock transport is approximately 25 thousand tons. The length of the vessel is 208 meters, the width is 32 meters.
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| USS Fort Lauderdale. |
| Source: ©Dambiev |
Recall that Japan recently started factory sea trials of the new generation head stealth frigate.