The U.S. Navy has named the next America-class amphibious assault vessel as the USS Bougainville after the Bougainville island in the northern Solomons, which served as the location of a World War II campaign.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced the name during a ceremony at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, the Defense Department said Wednesday.
Huntington Ingalls Industries will build the USS Bougainville as an LHA-variant of the America-class Amphibious Assault Ship.
Amphibious Assault Ships, the cornerstone of the Amphibious Readiness Group and Expeditionary Strike Group, are intended to support the Marine Corps tenets of Operational Maneuver From the Sea and Ship to Objective Maneuver.
The vessels are also designed to provide assistance during humanitarian and other contingency operations on short notice.
USS Bougainville (LHA-8) is the second ship to adopt the name following the first Bougainville – an escort carrier that debuted in 1944.
