USS San Antonio (LPD-17)
USS San Antonio (LPD-17), the lead ship of her class of amphibious transport dock, is the first ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of San Antonio, Texas. The ship is designed to deliver up to 800 Marines ashore by landing craft and helicopters. The construction contract was awarded on 1996-12-17 to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, Louisiana and the keel was laid down on 9 December 2000. The ship was launched on 12 July 2003 and christened on 19 July. She was originally scheduled to be commissioned 17 July 2002, but was delayed by poor performance at the Avondale shipyard, which resulted in her being towed from New Orleans to the Northrop Grumman shipyard at Pascagoula, Miss., in December 2004 for completion. The ship was unable to move under her own power at that time, despite have been christened more than a year earlier. The crew took delivery and moved aboard three days before Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005.
