Whoever happened to visit the Grand Harbour area or looked out from the Upper Barrakka Gardens on Monday was greeted by a different sight than the usual cruise liners.
The US Navy vessel USS Arlington moored at Pinto Wharf in Valletta on Sunday afternoon for a scheduled courtesy visit during its second deployment.
Commissioned in 2013, the USS Arlington (LPD 24) is one of three ships built to commemorate the victims and first responders of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the other two vessels being the USS New York and the USS Somerset.
Captain Todd Marzano (left)The San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship pays tribute to those lost in the attack on the Pentagon, as well as those who served in its aftermath and is named after Arlington, Virginia, where the headquarters of the US Department of Defence is located.
She transports and lands Marines, their equipment and supplies by embarked landing craft air cushions (LCACs) or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles (AAV) augmented by helicopters or vertical take-off and landing aircraft.
Arlington, whose personnel counts 400 sailors and 700 marines, can support amphibious assault, special operations or expeditionary warfare missions and can serve as secondary aviation platforms for amphibious ready groups.
Pays tribute to the victims and rescue personnel of Arlington County
The ship is a member of the Kearsage Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and has components of the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) embarked.
A 9/11 Tribute Room includes displays describing the events in Arlington on that fateful day and honours the 184 victims and thousands of emergency, fire and rescue personnel of Arlington County and neighbouring localities who provided critical emergency assistance.
Among the exhibits is a piece of recovered metal from the Pentagon.
Under the command of Captain Todd Marzano, the ship left its home port, the Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia on December 17, 2018. Before sailing to Malta, the vessel participated in a training exercise titled Alexander the Great 2019, with the Hellenic Marines in the Pagasitikos Gulf, Greece. It leaves the Grand Harbour on Tuesday.
General characteristics, San Antonio Class LPD
Builder: Huntington Ingalls Industries
Propulsion: Four sequentially turbocharged marine Colt-Pielstick diesels, two shafts, 41,600 shaft horsepower.
Length: 208 metres
Beam: 32 metres
Displacement: Approximately 24,900 long tons (25,300 metric tons) full load
Draft: 7 metres
Speed: In excess of 22 knots (38.7kph)
Crew: LPD 17-27 crew: Ship’s company: 383 sailors and three Marines. Embarked landing force: 699; surge capacity to 800. LPD 28/29 crew: ship’s company: 383 sailors and three Marines. Embarked landing force: 650.
Armament: Two Mk 46 30mm close-in guns, fore and aft; two rolling airframe missile launchers, fore and aft; 10 .50-calibre machine guns
Aircraft: Launch or land two CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters or two MV-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft or up to four CH-46/SH-60.
Landing/attack craft: Two LCACs or one LCU and 14 amphibious assault vehicles.
