According to a press release today, General Dynamics NASSCO hosted a keel laying ceremony for the first Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) ship at the company's shipyard in San Diego . Mrs. Pat Mills was the honoree for the ceremony. She is the wife of U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General Richard P. Mills , Deputy Commandant for Combat Development and Integration.
Mrs. Mills validated the keel laying by welding her initials into the ship's structure. The steel plate with her initials will be permanently affixed to the ship's keel, remaining with the vessel throughout its time in service.
Delivery of the first MLP ship is scheduled for May 2013 . The 765-foot long ship will be used as staging areas for the Navy and Marines. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus recently announced that this first MLP ship will be named Montford P will become the core of the Navy/Marine Corps sea basing concept. This capability will allow prepositioning ships to offload equipment and supplies to the MLP for transshipment to shore by other vessels.
