Pittsburgh City Controller Michael Lamb held a reception Monday for Navy Rear Admiral Thomas J. Anderson as local officials celebrated the newest ship being named after Pittsburgh while designating Nov. 15 as Navy Day in the city.
Anderson, the Navy’s program executive for ships, spoke at the reception about the Navy’s recent decision to name a new Flight 2 San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock the USS Pittsburgh.
“We are looking forward to continuing to honor the great contributions of this city through the construction and delivery of USS Pittsburgh, an LPD class amphibious transport dock ship that will embark transport and land U.S. Marines around the globe,” Anderson said.
It will be the fifth U.S. Navy vessel to bear Pittsburgh’s name. The first was an ironclad gunboat deployed during the Civil War. The most recent was a Los Angeles-class submarine decommissioned in 2019.
The newest USS Pittsburgh will be longer than two football fields. It weighs in at over 25,000 tons, Anderson said.
The future USS Pittsburgh comes with a price tag of just under $2 billion.
“Pittsburgh is a tough, hard-working and patriotic town and your ship will join a ship class with a legacy of resilience and selfless sacrifice,” Anderson said. “While Pittsburgh may not be a coastal city, through the service, technological and supply-chain contributions, and patriotic support of its citizens, it is clearly a significant contributor to the success of the Navy.”
The city produced more steel for weapons, ships and planes than all other Allied countries combined during World War II, he said.
“Our region has a long and proud history of military service, and it was an honor to celebrate that heritage on ‘Navy Day,’” said Lamb, whose father served in the Navy in World War II.
Lamb, along with Mayor Bill Peduto and City Council President Theresa Kail-Smith, issued a joint proclamation to commemorate the news and designate the date as Navy Day in Pittsburgh.
