Naval dock ship coming to its namesake city for commissioning

Fort Lauderdale’s ship is coming in – the amphibious transport dock ship, the U.S.S. Fort Lauderdale – and Navy officials are promising that its July 30 commissioning will be a “once in a lifetime event.”

The 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ship departed from Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi July 11. The ship was named to acknowledge the city’s long relationship with the U.S. Navy.

Ships like this launch Marines, their equipment and supplies onto land.

City officials say they are working out the commissioning ceremony’s particulars, but the celebration will get started with a Facebook Live event Wednesday and a VIP reception Thursday.

– Anne Geggis, Florida Politics