USS San Antonio (LPD 17) recently put its capabilities to work in a historic mission, completing a transit of the Panama Canal with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit aboard.
On Aug. 1, the ship completed the transit while operating under U.S. Southern Command. It marked the first time a Marine Expeditionary Unit has navigated the canal since 2008.
For the Ingalls shipbuilders who built LPD 17 then and for the ones who still maintain it today, the mission is a clear example of why the work matters. The ability to move Marines, aircraft and equipment through a narrow, strategically important waterway gives the Navy-Marine Corps team another way to respond quickly when and where it is needed.
BUILT FOR THE MISSION
The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific, allowing naval forces to avoid the weeks-long journey around the southern tip of South America. For LPD 17, successfully navigating the canal demonstrates the ship’s ability to operate in a demanding environment while supporting Marines and their equipment.
"Our ability to seamlessly navigate this critical waterway alongside our Navy partners aboard the USS San Antonio demonstrates our capability to rapidly project power and respond to crises anywhere in the Southern Command area of responsibility," said Col. Ryan Lynch, commanding officer of Littoral Combat Force-24.
That flexibility is at the heart of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. These ships are designed to transport and deploy Marines, their equipment and other assets from the sea, giving the Navy-Marine Corps team the ability to operate without relying on established military bases ashore.
BUILT FOR MOMENTS LIKE THIS
The transit also demonstrated the teamwork between the Navy and Marine Corps. Sailors aboard San Antonio and Marines of the 24th MEU operated together as an integrated force supporting U.S. Southern Command objectives.
That could mean responding to a humanitarian disaster, strengthening partnerships with nations in the region or deterring aggression. The mission may change, but the requirement remains the same: be ready to move.
LPD 17 was built to do exactly that.
LPD 17 is the lead ship of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport docks and was delivered to the Navy in 2005. At 684 feet long, the ship is designed to embark, transport and land Marines, their equipment and supplies in support of amphibious, expeditionary and special operations missions.
More than 20 years after construction, she’s still proving what Ingalls-built ships are made to do: move, respond and deliver.