LPD-20 Green Bay
The LPD 20 USS Green Bay is being built at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Avondale Division, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig announced the decision December 11, 2000 to name the fourth Amphibious Transport Dock ship (LPD) of the San Antonio class for the city of Green Bay. LPD 20 honors the city that took on the mantel of "Titletown USA" after the series of football championships won by the Green Bay Packers in the 1960s. It will be the second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name.
Following a Navy tradition of naming ships of this class after American cities, LPD 20 is named Green Bay to honor the nation's Midwest "city by the bay." The city of approximately 100,000 residents was founded in 1634 by French explorer, Jean Nicolet.
"Green Bay may be modest in size but it is enormous in spirit," said Danzig. "The oldest community in Wisconsin, Green Bay is well known for its commitment to team efforts, and particularly for its support of its football teams. As Vince Lombardi, a Green Bay coach, put it, 'The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.' LPD 20 will be home to another team -- the Navy-Marine Corps team -- no stranger to hard work and sacrifice to be the best in the world. It is that kind of special relationship that the people of Green Bay more than probably any other community in America understand."
The San Antonio class amphibious transport dock ships are used to transport and land Marines, their equipment and supplies by embarked landing craft or amphibious vehicles augmented by helicopters in amphibious assault.
These versatile ships perform the mission of amphibious transports, amphibious cargo ships and the older dock landing ships (LSD) by incorporating both a flight deck and a well deck that can be ballasted and deballasted to support landing craft.
The 12 ships of the San Antonio class will provide greatly improved warfighting capabilities including an advanced command and control suite, a greatly increased lift capacity, including substantial increases in vehicle and cargo carrying capability, and advanced ship survivability features. These ships have been designed from the keel up to support the Marine Corps 'mobility triad' - the LCAC (Landing Craft Air Cushion vehicle), 'Triple A-V' (AAAV - Advanced Amphibious Assault Vehicle), and MV-22 (Osprey tiltrotor aircraft), making this class a key element of 21st century amphibious ready groups. The LPD 17 class ships are scheduled to replace the older LPD 4 class.
The San Antonio class design integrates the latest in command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) capability. These capabilities are further enhanced by additional, dedicated intelligence, mission planning, and command and control spaces. The shipboard wide area network (SWAN) developed for LPD 17 is a fiber optic shipwide large area computer network. The SWAN will support everything from combat systems to ship systems to command and control nodes to an integrated training system. This network also provides e-mail and internet access capability.
This highly reliable, warfare-capable ship class will be the most survivable amphibious vessel ever put to sea. The ship's automated combat system includes a highly capable sensor suite and weapons capability that provides for a robust self defense capability. LPD 17's design optimizes radar cross section signature by streamlining topside design and incorporating reduced radar cross section signature technologies including a boat valley instead of boat deck, removable coverings over the rescue boat and fueling at sea stations, and accommodation ladders that fold into the ship's hull. The advanced enclosed mast/sensors, which enclose the ship's radars and communications antennas, characterizes the ship's distinctive profile.
The ship also incorporates the latest quality of life standards for the embarked Marines and sailors, including the sit-up berth, ship services mall, a fitness center and learning resource center/electronic classroom with the flexibility to accommodate mixed gender sailors and Marines as part of the crew and embarked troops. Reduced operational costs and an improved capability to incorporate technological advances over its 40-year service life are also essential design objectives for LPD 17. In working to accomplish these objectives, the design team incorporated hundreds of suggestions and recommendations from more than 1,000 sailors and Marines in the "Design for Ownership" process to ensure that these ships will meet their needs throughout the first half of the 21st century.
Previous Ships
The first US Navy ship to bear the name was USS Green Bay (PG-101), built by Peterson Builders Inc, of Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin, launched 14 June 1969, and commissioned 5 December 1969 at Boston MA. USS GREEN BAY (PG-101) was the sixth ship of the Tacoma-Class Patrol Gunboat to join the fleet and the first naval vessel to be named after the City of Green Bay. The ship was 165 feet in length, had a width of 24 feet, and displaced approximately 250 tons when fully loaded. A unique propulsion system provided the ship with impressive speed and instantaneous maneuverability. Two 725-horsepower diesel engines furnished comfortable cruising speeds and one 14,000-horsepower gas turbine jet engine delivered a high-speed capability. Armament consisted of a single 3-inch 50-caliber rapid-fire gun mount, one 40-millimeter gun mount, and two twin 50 caliber machine guns. The ship's complement consisted of four officers and twenty-four enlisted personnel.
The Green Bay was home ported in Little Creek, VA and made numerous trips to Guantanimo Bay, Cuba to serve in the role of the aggressor in fleet exercises. In addition, the Green Bay participated in many exercises simulating the deployment of Navy Seals and US Marines onto hostile shores. On 9 August 1974, Green Bay was nominated, by COMPHIBLANT for the Arleigh Burke Award. She is shown in the above photo, taken in the winter of 1973-74 with experimental cold-weather de-icing equipment installed, preparing to receive fuel from the USS Newport News (CG-148). USS Beacon (PG-99), USS Green Bay (PG-1O1) and USS Harlan County (LST-1196) became the first ships in the Navy to officially fly the 1775 Navy Jack in celebration of the bicentennial.
The ship was decommissioned 22 April 1977 at Little Creek VA, and stricken from the US Naval Vessel Register 1 October 1977. The ship was transferred to Greece in 1989 and renamed Hellenic Ship Tolmi (P-230). Green Bay is believed to be the first Patrol Gunboat to set milestones in two instances - Green Bay was the first PG to qualify in Naval Gunfire Support, 19 September 1973 and the first PG to change-out a turbine at pier side utilizing ship's company.
