USS Portland (LPD-27)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Portland.

USS Portland (LPD-27) is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship of the United States Navy, named after the U.S. city of Portland, Oregon. The ship was laid down in 2013, launched in 2016 and commissioned in 2018. The ship was armed with a Laser Weapon System for testing.

USS Portland (LPD-27)

USS Portland during her sea trials in June 2017
History
United States
Name	Portland
Namesake	Portland, Oregon
Awarded	27 July 2012[1]
Builder	Ingalls Shipbuilding[1]
Laid down	2 August 2013[2]
Launched	13 February 2016[1]
Sponsored by	Bonnie Amos[2]
Acquired	18 September 2017[1]
Commissioned	14 December 2017[1]
Homeport	San Diego
Identification	MMSI number: 368926288 Pennant number: LPD-27
Status	in active service
Badge
General characteristics
Class & type	San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock
Displacement	25,000 long tons (25,000 t) full
Length	208.5 m (684 ft 1 in) overall 201.4 m (660 ft 9 in) waterline
Beam	31.9 m (104 ft 8 in) extreme, 29.5 m (96 ft 9 in) waterline
Draft	7 m (23 ft 0 in)
Propulsion	Four Colt-Pielstick diesel engines, two shafts, 40,000 hp (30,000 kW)
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h)
Boats & landing craft carried	2 LCACs (air cushion) or 1 LCU (conventional)
Capacity	699 (66 officers, 633 enlisted); surge to 800 total.
Complement	28 officers, 333 enlisted
Armament	2 × 30 mm Bushmaster II cannons, for surface threat defense; 2 × Rolling Airframe Missile launchers for air defense Laser Weapon System (temporary testing)
Aircraft carried	4 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters or 2 MV-22 tilt rotor aircraft may be launched or recovered simultaneously.

Construction and career

Portland's keel was laid down on 2 August 2013, at the Ingalls Shipbuilding yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship's sponsor is Bonnie Amos, wife of U.S. Marine Corps Commandant General James F. Amos.^[2] Portland was launched on 13 February 2016,^[1][3][4] and she was delivered to the Navy on 18 September 2017.^[5] She was commissioned on 14 December 2017,^[1] but her commissioning ceremony was not held until 21 April 2018, when she was in the city of Portland for the festivities.^[6][7][8] The commissioning ceremony was protested by a number of local anti-war groups, who opposed a warship being named after the city.^[3][9]

Laser weapon system

Laser Weapon System
(LaWS)

A next-generation follow-on to the AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System (LaWS) was slated for integration onto Portland as a technology demonstration^[10] after the decommissioning of USS Ponce, which carried the LaWS before it, and was installed at the end of 2018.^[11] In May 2020, Portland successfully destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) with the solid-state laser, Technology Maturation Laser Weapon System Demonstrator (LWSD) MK 2 MOD 0^[12] with a power level of 150 kW.^[13] On 14 December 2021, the LaWS successfully destroyed a marine target floating in the Gulf of Aden.^[14]

2022

On 27–30 May, Portland and USS Essex were open to the public as a part of Los Angeles Fleet Week 2022, in San Pedro, California.^[15]

Spacecraft recoveries

Orion for Artemis 1 aboard USS Portland on 11 December 2022

Portland was assigned as the recovery ship for the Orion capsule of the Artemis 1 uncrewed Moon-orbiting mission, successfully completed on 11 December 2022. The spacecraft's floating Orion capsule was pulled into the flooded well deck at the stern of the vessel off the coast of Baja California.^[16]