Amphibious ship 'USS Anchorage' (LPD 23) transits the Panama Canal while in 4th Fleet's area of operations for the first time.
USS Anchorage departed the Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) Shipbuilding site in Avondale, La. Oct. 30, 2012 to sail to her future homeport of San Diego.
With a beam measuring 105 feet, Anchorage, a San Antonio-class LPD, is among the largest class of ships able to safely pass through the canal, whose locks measure 110 feet. She completed the transit in 13 hours.
Anchorage will next make a brief port visit to La Manzanilla, Mexico before completing the final leg of her transit to homeport where a homecoming ceremony will welcome back the Sailors and Marines assigned to the ship, most of whom have been away from home for more than seven months.
Anchorage is the seventh San Antonio class amphibious transport dock. She was built at the HII Shipbuilding site in Avondale, La. The ship will be commissioned in May in her namesake city of Anchorage, Alaska and is the second ship to be named for the city.