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MLP 1 Montford Point

The first ship of the Navy's new Mobile Landing Platform (MLP) class launched 13 November 2012, less than two years since the start of fabrication at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. Designed to provide logistics movement from sea to shore, the new class of ships will provide the Navy with a dedicated seabasing capability. The future USNS Montford Point (MLP 1) will be the lead ship of the class. The name honors the African American Marines who trained at the Montford Point, N.C., facility during World War II and prompted President Harry Truman to sign an executive order ending segregation in the U.S. military.

USNS Montford Point (T-ESD 1) and USNS John Glenn (T-ESD 2) are configured with the Core Capability Set (CCS), which consists of a vehicle staging area, vehicle transfer ramp, large mooring fenders and up to three Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) vessel lanes to support its core transfer requirements.

The Montford Point Marines were a group of African-American Marines who swore to protect the U.S. during World War II. At their time of enlistment, these Marines were segregated and received their recruit training at Montford Point, near Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, North Carolina. From 1942-1949, approximately 20,000 African-American Marines were trained there.

However, in 1948, President Harry S. Truman abolished segregation in the armed forces, and one year later, Montford Point was deactivated. In 1965, a group of Montford Point Maries reunited, and established the Montford Point Marine Association, a non-profit organization whose mission is to “preserve the legacy” of the first black Marines to serve. The organization developed a creed that reads as follows; “To promote and preserve the strong bonds of friendship born from shared adversities and to devote ourselves to the furtherance of these accomplishments to ensure more peaceful times.”

The expeditionary transfer dock USNS Montford Point (T-ESD 1) wrapped up a series of "skin-to-skin" operations in the vicinity of Saipan, 22 June 2017. The operations took place over the course of 17 days and included complex maneuvering and positioning drills with ships from Maritime Prepositioning Squadron Three (MPSRON-3).

"Skin-to-skin operations are game-changers when it comes to supporting the Marine Corps and other expeditionary forces with greater flexibility at sea," said Mr. Paul Grgas, deputy director of operations for the Military Sealift Command Far East. "Expeditionary transfer docks like Montford Point can operate off shore and augment ship to shore movements during amphibious operations."

During the skin-to-skin operations, USNS Soderman (T-AKR 317), USNS Red Cloud (T-AKR 313), and USNS Stockham (T-AK 3017), rehearsed the transfer of equipment and cargo with Montford Point. Skin-to-skin operations occur when two ships connect at sea allowing specialized vessels like Montford Point to operate as a floating pier for offload operations. The skin-to-skin drills build proficiency for ships like Montford Point to operate at sea for a sustained period and transfer large cargo from prepositioning ships for use by forces ashore and afloat.