The Dock Landing Ship Pearl Harbor (LSD 52), will be christened in a ceremony
at
10 a.m., on Saturday, February 24, 1996, at Avondale Industries, New Orleans,
Louisiana. In
the age-old Navy tradition, Mrs. Beverly Young, wife of the Honorable C. W.
"Bill" Young, Chairman, National Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, will
break a bottle of champagne across the bow and formally name the ship.
Representative Young will be the principal speaker at the ceremony.
Among the honored guests at the ceremony will be the Honorable Richard Danzig,
Under Secretary of the Navy; Admiral Jeremy M. Boorda, Chief of Naval
Operations; Rear Admiral Paul Robinson, Deputy Commander, Naval Sea Systems
Command.
Pearl Harbor honors the naval base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, and the men
and women who fought so valiantly in response to the surprise attack by
Japanese forces December 7, 1941. "Remember Pearl Harbor" became a rallying
cry for the nation during World War II.
Ships of this class are vital to the U.S. Navy's strategic doctrine of forward
presence and rapid deployment of troops and heavy equipment to remote and
distant shores, "Forward...From the Sea." Pearl Harbor's mission is to
transport Marines with their associated combat equipment, and launch pre-loaded
assault landing craft and helicopters during amphibious operations against
hostile shores. Pearl Harbor carries Landing Craft Air Cushion vehicles
(LCACs), which are assault landing craft capable of exceeding 40 knots while
carrying a 60-ton payload. Dock landing ships and LCACs were successfully used
in the rapid deployment of troops and equipment to Somalia in Operation
"Restore Hope."
Pearl Harbor is the Navy's 12th Whidbey Island-class dock landing ship, and
the fourth to be built with a "cargo variant" configuration, which provides
additional space for Marine Corps equipment.
The ship is 609 feet in length, has a beam of 84 feet and displaces
approximately 17,000 tons. It has a crew of 22 Officers and 397 Sailors and
is equipped to carry 504 Marine troops.
For information related to the christening, the Avondale Industries point of
contact is
Mr. Ed Winter, at (504) 436-1212.
