Murkowski: USS Anchorage Should Be Commissioned In Anchorage
Senator Encourages Secretary of the Navy to Hold Ceremony in Namesake, State’s Most Strategic Port
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator Lisa Murkowski wrote Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, encouraging him to have the Navy commission the USS Anchorage – a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship – in Anchorage once it completes its sea trials.
“Alaskan hospitality is legendary. It is well known through the Armed Forces that no people support our men and women in uniform more enthusiastically than the people of Alaska,” Murkowski wrote.
Murkowski concluded that “the commissioning ceremony presents the Navy with an important opportunity to reintroduce itself to the people of Alaska. We have missed the Navy’s year round presence in our state since the closure of naval facilities in Adak. Yet we remain hopeful that we will be able to welcome the Navy back to Alaska as the US presence in the Arctic develops.”
The USS Anchorage is the second ship to be named for Anchorage, Alaska. The letter to Secretary Mabus is attached.
###
