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Military

USS Portland Arrives Monday In Home Port San Diego

USS Portland conducts its first set of sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico in this undated photo.
US Navy
USS Portland conducts its first set of sea trials in the Gulf of Mexico in this undated photo.

A new U.S. Navy ship is being home ported in San Diego. The USS Portland arrived in San Diego Bay shortly after noon Monday.

The Portland is a transport dock ship. Its primary job is to transport Marines to the place where they will be deployed. The ship comes to San Diego with a crew of 371 sailors. Once it's loaded up with Marines it can carry more than 1,000 personnel.

The ship comes with a helicopter pad and can be used as a dock by certain kinds of amphibious craft. A Navy spokesman said the Portland will join a fleet of five transport ships already based in San Diego.

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The USS Portland has not yet been officially named because it's still uncommissioned. It'll be commissioned in April in Portland, Oregon, the city for which it's named.

USS Portland Arrives Monday In Home Port San Diego
The Navy's new ship joins an existing fleet of five transport dock ships in San Diego.

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