USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28)

Huntington Ingalls Photo

USS FORT LAUDERDALE is the twelfth SAN ANTONIO - class amphibious transport dock and the first ship in the Navy named after Fort Lauderdale, Florida. While still a Flight I member of her class, FORT LAUDERDALE features a number of modifications compared to previous ships of the class. Most striking are the steel masts instead of the composite masts and that the stern gate is open at the top.

General Characteristics:	Awarded: December 19, 2016
	Keel laid: October 13, 2017
	Launched: March 28, 2020
	Commissioned: July 30, 2022
	Builder: Northrop Grumman Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss.
	Propulsion system: four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick Diesels
	Propellers: two
	Length: 684 feet (208.5 meters)
	Beam: 105 feet (31.9 meters)
	Draft: 23 feet (7 meters)
	Displacement: approx. 24,900 tons
	Speed: 22 knots
	Well deck capacity: two LCAC or one LCU and 14 Expeditionary Fighting Vehicles
	Aircraft: landing platform for all helicopters and the MV-22 Osprey; maintenance facilities for one CH-53E or two CH-46s or one MV-22 or three UH/AH-1s
	Crew: Ship: 28 officers, 332 enlisted
	Crew: Marine Detachment: 66 officers, 633 enlisted (can be expanded to 800)
	Homeport: Norfolk, Va.
	Armament: two Bushmaster II 30 mm Close in Guns; two Rolling Airframe Missile launchers

go to the end of the page

Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS FORT LAUDERDALE. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.

Click here to view the list.

go to the end of the page

Click here to see which USS FORT LAUDERDALE memorabilia are currently for sale on ebay.

go to the end of the page

USS FORT LAUDERDALE History:

USS FORT LAUDERDALE emerged from the U.S. Navy's decision to continue the SAN ANTONIO-class while incorporating cost-reduction features that would inform the follow-on Flight II ships. She is the first U.S. warship named for the city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A fixed-price contract to build the ship at Huntington Ingalls Industries-Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, was awarded on December 19, 2016, setting in motion the detailed design and construction effort for the 12th hull of the class.

Her keel was authenticated at Ingalls on October 13, 2017, a traditional milestone that marked the formal start of assembly. The ship took to the water on March 28, 2020, after translation to dry dock and a controlled float-off, and she was christened in Pascagoula on August 21, 2021, at a ceremony adjusted for pandemic precautions. In a nod to long-standing seafaring custom, a mast-stepping ceremony on August 20, 2021, placed mementos within the structure as a time capsule for future crews.

Builder's and acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico followed. The ship departed Ingalls for acceptance trials on January 26, 2022, returned to Pascagoula on January 28 after completing the evaluated demonstrations for the Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey, and was declared to have successfully completed acceptance trials on January 31. The Navy accepted delivery on March 11, 2022, formally transferring the ship from the builder to the fleet. The crew moved aboard on April 11, 2022, to begin the final phase of post-delivery preparations.

During her sail-away phase to commissioning, FORT LAUDERDALE conducted an early amphibious integration event: on July 16, 2022, she embarked the Navy's newest Ship-to-Shore Connector craft, LCAC-100 class SSC-103 and SSC-104, for a "lift of opportunity" with ASSAULT CRAFT UNIT FOUR, keeping them aboard through commissioning and onward transit to their home station. The ship departed Pascagoula on July 11, 2022, arrived at Port Everglades on July 25 to begin a week of commissioning events, and was commissioned in her namesake city on July 30, 2022. She then proceeded to her assigned homeport, mooring at Naval Station Norfolk on August 4, 2022.

In the ensuing months the crew completed post-delivery tests and trials typical for a new amphibious transport dock, working locally from Norfolk under U.S. 2nd Fleet. A first change of command on July 7, 2023, transferred command from CAPT James A. Quaresimo, who had led the ship through delivery and commissioning, to CAPT Gill McCarthy in a ceremony aboard the ship in port.

FORT LAUDERDALE's public outreach and fleet integration continued in 2024. In mid-June she took part in Maryland Fleet Week & Flyover Baltimore, arriving via the newly re-opened Fort McHenry Federal Channel and offering public tours while her Sailors and embarked Marines manned the rails during ceremonial entries and departures. The appearance underscored the ship's role as a modern amphibious platform familiarizing East Coast communities with Navy-Marine Corps expeditionary capability.

Maintenance and modernization punctuated the early service life. A Post-Shakedown Availability (PSA) was scheduled to begin in May 2024 to capture trial deficiencies and incorporate early upgrades; in parallel, the Navy issued follow-on maintenance and modernization contracts with BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair to support LPD-class availabilities through the mid-2020s. These actions are routine for new-construction amphibs as they transition from trials to sustained operations.

Workups for initial deployment accelerated in early 2025, with the ship integrated in the IWO JIMA (LHD 7) Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) alongside the amphibious assault ship IWO JIMA and the fellow SAN ANTONIO-class ship SAN ANTONIO (LPD 17), embarked with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. The ARG completed a graded Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) to certify the force across mission areas. During this period, FORT LAUDERDALE also conducted a Rolling Airframe Missile live-fire on March 24, 2025, a standard self-defense weapons exercise that closes a key certification gate before deployment.

The ARG deployed from Norfolk on August 14, 2025, with FORT LAUDERDALE sailing in company with IWO JIMA and SAN ANTONIO and the 22nd MEU. Within days, the ships made a prudent return to Hampton Roads to avoid Hurricane Erin before resuming operations. The force's early tasking included participation in UNITAS 2025 - the long-running multinational maritime exercise hosted that year along the U.S. East Coast from September 15 through October 6 with events near Naval Station Mayport, Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, and Naval Station Norfolk - and subsequent movement into the western Atlantic and Caribbean for presence and security cooperation.

As the deployment matured, the ARG was drawn into a broader U.S. maritime security effort focused on counter-narcotics and regional stability in the southern Caribbean. Public reporting described the deployment of naval and air forces - including the IWO JIMA ARG with FORT LAUDERDALE - to deter and disrupt cartel-linked trafficking networks, with senior Defense officials emphasizing the operational (rather than training) character of the mission during a visit to forces off Puerto Rico. In parallel, U.S. Southern Command and U.S. 4th Fleet coordinated multinational participation in UNITAS events and subsequent littoral and amphibious evolutions.

go to the end of the page

Homeports of USS FORT LAUDERDALE:

Period	Homeport
commissioned at Port Everglades, Fla.
2022 - present	Norfolk, Va.

go to the end of the page

USS FORT LAUDERDALE Image Gallery:

The photos below were taken by Michael Jenning and show the FORT LAUDERDALE at the BAE Systems shipyard in Norfolk, Va., on September 6, 2022.