The U.S. Navy will name a joint high-speed vessel the USNS Trenton, making it the nation’s fourth ship named after the capital city.
The vessel is expected to be operational in winter 2014, the Navy said. It will be capable of transporting more than 300 troops and more than 600 short tons and will serve in various support capacities or on humanitarian missions.
“Trenton displays American values of community, perseverance and resourcefulness at their very best,” Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said in a news release. “I chose to name the joint high-speed vessel after Trenton to honor those values and the men and women of the city as well as the state of New Jersey.”
The vessel will include a 20,000-square-foot mission deck and an aviation flight deck and will have the ability to travel 1,200 nautical miles at about 35 knots.
“It’s a great honor for one of the Navy’s newest and most innovative ships to be named after New Jersey’s historic capital city,” said U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). “Trenton is a great city and the site of one of America’s most historic military victories, and it’s a fitting tribute for the Navy to honor it.”
“This is an exciting day for the City of Trenton and the entire State of New Jersey,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-Robbinsville). “All over the world, this vessel will prouldy carry the name of our historic state capital.”
The USNS Trenton will be the fourth ship named after the city, according to the Naval History and Heritage Command.
The first ship, launched in 1876, sailed primarily in Europe and the Mediterranean Sea and eventually wrecked in an 1889 hurricane.
The second ship, a light cruiser launched in 1923, helped evacuate U.S. citizens from Spain during the Spanish Civil War and made some bombardments on the Pacific front of World War II.
The third Trenton, an amphibious transport dock, was launched in 1968 and, in 2006, helped evacuate U.S. citizens from the Lebanon War. The Indian Navy purchased the ship in 2007 for $44 million and rechristened it as the INS Jalashwa.
“It’s a good opportunity for the city. Anything that helps visibility is always good,” said Helen Shannon, president of the Trenton Historical Society. “It could always be better and more widely known. We’d like more people to visit the city and our very historic sites and, hopefully, the naming of this ship will raise peoples’ interest.”