USS Somerset on 21 April 2014
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Somerset |
Namesake | Somerset County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Awarded | 21 December 2007 [1] |
Builder | Avondale Shipyard |
Laid down | 11 December 2009 [1] |
Launched | 14 April 2012 [1] |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Mary Jo Myers |
Christened | 28 July 2012 |
Commissioned | 1 March 2014 [1] |
Homeport | San Diego [1] |
Identification |
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Status | in active service |
Badge | |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock |
Displacement | 25,000 tons full |
Length |
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Beam |
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Draft | 7 m (23 ft) |
Propulsion | Four Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, two shafts, 40,000 hp (30 MW) |
Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h) |
Boats & landing craft carried | |
Capacity | 699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge to 800 total. |
Complement | 28 officers, 333 enlisted |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried | Four CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters or two MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft may be launched or recovered simultaneously. |
The USS Somerset (LPD-25) is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock of the United States Navy. [1] It is the fourth Navy vessel and the second warship to bear this name, the first two being a wooden-hulled motorboat and a ferry.
The first warship, an armed cargo ship from World War II, was named for the Somerset counties of Maine, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
The modern ship was named specifically for Somerset County Pennsylvania, in honor of the passengers who died on United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked during the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. The passengers prevented the plane from reaching its intended target by forcing it to crash in Stonycreek Township in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. The words " Let's Roll," spoken by a passenger of United Airlines Flight 93 before trying to storm the cockpit of the doomed flight, are painted on the ship above the rear deck, [2] along with a "93" seal which mirrors the "93" flag seen flying on the vessel in many photos. In the words of Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England;
"The courage and heroism of the people aboard the flight will never be forgotten and USS Somerset will leave a legacy that will never be forgotten by those wishing to do harm to this country."
Approximately 22 tons of steel from a Marion 7500 dragline that stood near Flight 93's crash site were used to construct Somerset's keel. [3]
The contract to build the Somerset was awarded on December 21, 2007 to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of Pascagoula, Mississippi. Her keel was laid down on December 11, 2009, at Northrop Grumman's Avondale shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was launched on April 14, 2012, and christened three months later on July 28 sponsored by Mrs. Mary Jo Myers, the wife of General Richard Myers, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [4] She completed acceptance trials in September 2013. [5] [6]
On February 3, 2014, the Somerset was recorded as the last Navy ship to depart from the Avondale Ship Yard, before its closing. She was commissioned on March 1, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [7]