Name USS Green Bay Laid down 11 August 2003 Acquired 29 August 2008 Launched 11 August 2006 | Ordered 30 May 2000 Christened 15 July 2006 Construction started 11 August 2003 | |
 | ||
Builder | ||
Uss green bay lpd 20 departs naval base san diego ca 9 17 2012
USS Green Bay (LPD-20) is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock. She is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city and bay of Green Bay, Wisconsin. This ship is designed to deliver a fully equipped battalion of 800 Marines.
Contents
The contract to build her was awarded to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems of New Orleans, Louisiana, on 30 May 2000 and her keel was laid down on 11 August 2003. Green Bay was christened on 15 July 2006 and commissioned on 24 January 2009 with Commander Joseph R. Olson, a native of Madison, Wisconsin, in command. Rose Magnus, the wife of the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Robert Magnus, served as the ship’s sponsor. Green Bay is assigned to the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and her home port was Naval Base San Diego. until 2015 when it was forward deployed to United States Fleet Activities Sasebo in Sasebo, Nagasaki, Japan
The ship's name has resulted in a close connection to the people of Green Bay, Wisconsin and their professional football team, the Green Bay Packers. The ship's flight deck is named "Lambeau Field" after the name of the Packers' stadium. Green Bay businesses and residents presented the ship with a truckload of Packerland memorabilia for its 2009 commissioning.
Service history
In 2009, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 (VX-31) and USS Green Bay tested the feasibility of using the San Antonio class LPDs for AV-8B Harrier IIs V/STOL attack aircraft in emergency situations. The AV-8Bs were used in numerous tests for the San Antonio class's aviation certification, as well testing the effect of exhaust heat on the flight deck.
The ship went on its first deployment in February 2011 with the three-ship Boxer Amphibious Ready Group. The group, comprising 4,000 sailors and Marines from the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, deployed for seven months to the United States 5th and 7th Fleet areas in the Asian region.
In March 2011, the ship was scheduled to assisted in relief efforts after the massive 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. It was rerouted into Operation Enduring Freedom areas and never made it to Japan. Proof of this can be found in the float book for the 13th MEU.
In May 2013, the Green Bay returned from an eight-month deployment to the Middle East and Asia as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group, along with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
In January 2015, the Green Bay was forward deployed to the 7th Fleet replacing the USS Denver in the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group homeported at United States Fleet Activities Sasebo