Nichols Martin
Huntington Ingalls Industries
‘ Ingalls Shipbuilding division has laid the keel for the 12th amphibious transport dock ship of the U.S. Navy‘s San Antonio class.
Meredith Berger, a former Navy deputy chief of staff, served as the sponsor of the future USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28) and her initials were engraved on a steel plate during the ceremony, HII said Friday.
One of Ingalls Shipbuilding’s structural welders, Howard Sparks, performed the engraving of Berger’s initials.
The Navy named the LPD 28 ship after Florida’s Fort Lauderdale city to honor the place’s historic ties with the military branch that date as far back as the 1830s.
Ingalls Shipbuilding delivered the 11th San Antonio-class vessel USS Portland last month and secured a contract to obtain long-lead-time materials for the construction of the 13th amphibious transport dock ship.
