Ingalls Shipbuilding successfully tests John Murtha

Huntington Ingalls Industries' 10th San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock, John P. Murtha (LPD 26), spent four days in the Gulf of Mexico last week with Ingalls' test and trials team operating the ship and performing more than 200 test events.

The ship was built at HII's Ingalls Shipbuilding division in Pascagoula.

"Overall the builder's trial was successful, and the ship performed well," said Kari Wilkinson, Ingalls' LPD 26 program manager.

Major evolutions during builder's trials include the anchor-handling demonstration, ballast/deballast demonstration, detect-to-engage exercise, running the ship at full power and steering.

Shipbuilders will now prepare the ship for acceptance trials in April to demonstrate the same tests and operational success to the U.S. Navy's Board of Inspection and Survey. The ship is scheduled to be delivered to the Navy in the second quarter of 2016.

LPD 26 is named in honor of the late John Murtha, who represented Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District from 1974 to 2010.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 3:53 PM with the headline "Ingalls Shipbuilding successfully tests John Murtha ."