Flight I San Antonio-class LPD programme concludes
USS Richard M McCool Jr was launched on 7 January. (Photo: HII)
USS Richard M McCool Jr was launched on 7 January as the 13th out of 26 San Antonio-class LPDs for the USN.
The final Flight I San Antonio-class landing platform dock (LPD) for the USN was launched on 7 January when USS Richard M McCool Jr (LPD 29) took to the water at the Ingalls Shipbuilding facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Richard M McCool Jr is the 13th San Antonio-class amphibious assault force ship, each of which is 208m long, 32m wide and displaces 25,000t.
The LPDs are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or VTOL aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey.
Richard M McCool Jr was laid down in April 2019. Ingalls Shipbuilding is building the entire 26-ship San Antonio class. Work began in April 2020 on the first Flight II vessel (USS Harrisburg).
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