Navy Commissions Amphibious Transport Dock Ship Green Bay

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NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense

No. 664-06 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jul 13, 2006 Media Contact: (703)697-5131
Public/Industry(703)428-0711

Navy Commissions Amphibious Transport Dock Ship Green Bay


The Navy will christen the newest San Antonio Class Amphibious
Transport Docking ship Green Bay at 10 a.m. CDT on Saturday, July 15, 2006,
during a ceremony at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems Avondale Operations,
Avondale, La.



The ship is named Green Bay to honor the nation's Midwest "city by
the bay." The city of about 100,000 residents was founded in 1634 by French
explorer, Jean Nicolet, and is the oldest community in Wisconsin.



Rose Magnus, wife of the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps,
Gen. Robert Magnus, is serving as the ship's sponsor. In a time-honored Navy
tradition, she will break a bottle of champagne across the ship's bow to
formally christen the ship. Gen. Magnus will deliver the ceremony's principal
address.



Green Bay is the fourth ship in the Navy's new San Antonio Class
of Amphibious Transport Dock ships. As a critical element in future
expeditionary strike groups, the ship will support the Marine Corps' mobility
triad, which consists of the high speed landing craft air cushion (LCAC), the
expeditionary fighting vehicle (EFV) and the Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft
(MV-22). The ship will provide improved warfighting capabilities including an
advanced command-and-control suite, increased lift-capability in vehicle and
cargo-carrying capacity and advanced ship-survivability features.



Cmdr. Burt L. Espe of San Diego, a 1987 graduate of the U.S. Naval
Academy, is the commanding officer of the pre-commissioning unit Green Bay.



Green Bay is 684 feet in length, has an overall beam of 105 feet,
a navigational draft of 23 feet, displaces about 24,900 tons and is capable of
embarking a landing force of about 800 Marines. Four turbo-charged diesel
engines power the ship to sustained speeds of 24 knots.



For more information about this class of ship, please visit the
Navy Fact File:
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=600&ct=4
[http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=4200&tid=600&ct=4] .