PASCAGOULA, Miss. (Jan 7, 2022) — Huntington Ingalls Industries’ (NYSE: HII) Ingalls Shipbuilding division announced today the successful launch of amphibious transport dock Richard M. McCool Jr. (LPD 29). Richard M. McCool Jr., the 13th LPD in the San Antonio class of amphibious assault force ships, will support U.S. amphibious assault, special operations and expeditionary warfare missions through the first half of the 21st century.

“The LPD class ships, like all of our programs, are critically important to U.S. national security,” said Kari Wilkinson, president of HII’s Ingalls Shipbuilding division. “In addition, thousands of Americans, from engineers to electricians, have worked on LPD 29 over the years. Ingalls Shipbuilding is proud to build them and even more proud of the talented people that make up our shipbuilding team.”

With the assistance of tugs, Richard M. McCool Jr. came off the floating dry dock Wednesday morning, after first being translated via Ingalls’ rail car system. The dock was moved away from the pier and then ballasted to float off the ship. 

Launching Richard M. McCool Jr. is the first of a series of significant milestone events in bringing the ship to life, and eventual delivery to the U.S. Navy which is planned for later next year.

Ingalls Shipbuilding is building the entire San Antonio class of ships, the newest addition to the Navy’s 21st century amphibious assault force. The 684-foot-long, 105-foot-wide ships that displace 25,000 tons are used to embark and land Marines, their equipment and supplies ashore via air cushion or conventional landing craft and amphibious assault vehicles, augmented by helicopters or vertical takeoff and landing aircraft such as the MV-22 Osprey.

HII is a global engineering and defense technologies provider. With a 135-year history of trusted partnerships in advancing U.S. national security, HII delivers critical capabilities ranging from the most powerful and resilient maritime platforms ever built, to unmanned systems and AI/ML analytics. HII leads the industry in mission-driven solutions that support and enable a connected, integrated full spectrum force. Headquartered in Newport News, Virginia, HII’s skilled workforce is 44,000 strong. For more information please visit: