_during_builder%2527s_sea_trials_US_Navy_120515-N-ZZ999-101.jpg) USSAnchorage on 15 May 2012 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Anchorage |
| Namesake | Anchorage |
| Awarded | 1 June 2006[1] |
| Builder | Northrop Grumman Ship Systems,Avondale |
| Laid down | 24 September 2007 |
| Launched | 12 February 2011[1][2] |
| Christened | 14 May 2011[3] |
| Acquired | 17 September 2012[1][4] |
| Commissioned | 4 May 2013[1][5] |
| Homeport | San Diego |
| Identification |
|
| Motto |
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| Status | in active service, as of 2016[update] |
| Badge | _crest.png) |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | San Antonio-classamphibious transport dock |
| Displacement | 25,000long tons (25,000 t)full |
| Length | |
| Beam | 105 ft (32 m) |
| Draft | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 22 kn (41 km/h; 25 mph) |
| Boats & landing craft carried | |
| Troops | 66 officers, 625 enlisted |
| Complement | 33 officers, 411 enlisted |
| Sensors and processing systems |
|
| Electronic warfare & decoys | |
| Armament |
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| Aircraft carried |
|
USSAnchorage (LPD-23) is aSan Antonio-classamphibious transport dock and the second ship of theUnited States Navy to be named after the U.S. city ofAnchorage, Alaska.
Anchorage's keel was laid down on 24 September 2007, at theAvondale Shipyard nearNew Orleans, Louisiana, then owned byNorthrop Grumman Ship Systems. The ship waslaunched on 12 February 2011.;[2] sponsored by Mrs. Annette Conway, wife ofJames T. Conway, a formerCommandant of the Marine Corps.[6] She was christened two months later, on 14 May – the first ship christened byHuntington Ingalls Industries sinceNorthrop Grumman spun off its shipbuilding divisions as a separate company.[3]The ship was formally delivered and accepted by the U.S. Navy on 17 September 2012.[4]Anchorage wascommissioned 4 May 2013, in her eponymous city.[5]
_with_Orion_Crew_Module_after_landing_2014.JPG)
In early August 2014,Anchorage participated inUnderway Recovery Test 2, rehearsing scenarios for recovering anOrion space capsule.[9][10]
Senior project managers from theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), who oversaw theExploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1) for the uncrewed Orion spacecraft, conferred withRear AdmiralFernandez L. Ponds, commanderExpeditionary Strike Group (ESG) 3, andCaptainWilliam R. Grotewold, the ship's commanding officer, on boardSan Diego at her home port ofSan Diego, 12 September 2013. They discussed plans to retrieveOrion's space capsule during hersplashdown in a scheduled test off the coast of Southern California.[6]
"We had a chance to display the ship's capability, show the crew's enthusiasm and demonstrate that our amphibious capability is multi-dimensional, just one more thing that our Navy can do," Ponds explained. "The LPD 17-class ships have one of the most robust command and control communications systems in our Navy inventory."[6]
The space agency's planners intended Orion to reach an altitude of nearly 3,600 mi (5,800 km) above the Earth's surface during EFT-1. Following the test flight, she was to reenter the atmosphere at a speed of more than 20,000 mph (32,000 km/h) and splashdown in the Pacific. The flight was to test the capsule's avionics,heat shield, andparachutes, and the Navy was tasked to locate and recover the craft.[6]
"NASA did a trade study whether they wanted Orion to land on the ground or in the water," Andy Quiett, Detachment 3 deputy operations lead for the Orion program andDepartment of Defense (DoD) liaison for NASA said, "and because of the size, weight and the deep space requirements of the vehicle, they determined it needed to land in water." Orion's life support, propulsion, thermal protection, and avionics systems enable the spacecraft to extend the duration of her deep space missions, as part of the goal to eventually land onMars.[6]
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NASA marked a major milestone in the agency's program to reestablish America's crewed space program when it carried out EFT-1 with Orion on 5 December 2014. Orion launched atop aDelta IV rocket fromSpace Launch Complex 37B at theCape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, made two orbits of the planet during a four and a half hour mission, and splashed down in the Pacific.Anchorage,Military Sealift Command-crewed salvage shipSalvor,Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 8 (HSC-8), EODMU-11, Mobile Diving and Salvage Company 11–17,Fleet Weather Center San Diego, andFleet Combat Camera Pacific took part in the recovery when the spacecraft splashed down.Anchorage recovered Orion's crew module, forward bay cover, and parachutes. A bridge team especially trained for the operation maneuveredAnchorage alongside Orion, and lowered small boats to retrieve her. Divers attached lines from the small boats to guide the capsule towardAnchorage, where a NASA-designed winch hauled the module into the well deck.[6]
This article includes information collected from theNaval Vessel Register, which, as a U.S. government publication, is in thepublic domain. The entry can be foundhere. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
