U.S. military leadership hailed at commissioning of USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6)

PENSACOLA, Florida, August 15, 1998 -- In an event which embodied true American naval heritage and tradition, the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps team commissioned the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS BONHOMME RICHARD (LHD 6), on Saturday at Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.

An estimated gathering of 10,000 guests attended the commissioning of the ship, built by Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Litton Industries, Pascagoula, Mississippi. Speaking on the importance of maintaining a strong U.S. military, U.S. Representative John P. Murtha, of Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, said in delivering the principal commissioning address, "no one but the United States has the leadership, intelligence and logistics capability, experience, the airlift and sealift capability necessary to keep us out of a war. There is no question that other countries can't do it.

"We have more power projection and more economic projection than any country in the history of the world," said Cong. Murtha, a Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, member of the House Appropriations Committee, and ranking minority member of the Subcommittee on National Security. "This is the greatest country in the world and we have the leadership capability which is essential to keeping the peace. "I applaud the men and women of Ingalls Shipbuilding,"' Cong. Murtha continued, "for building this ship on time and within budget. I am pleased about that accomplishment...for this ship is indeed at the pinnacle of power of this great country. God bless USS BONHOMME RICHARD, and the men and women who will sail her into the fleet!"

Congressman Murtha's wife, Mrs. Joyce Murtha, of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, serves as Ship's Sponsor for LHD 6, and christened the ship at Ingalls in May 1997. During LHD 6's commissioning, Mrs. Murtha gave LHD 6's 1,000 plankowner officers and crewmembers the traditional order to "Man our ship and bring her to life!."

"As with all the ships in the United States Navy, USS BONHOMME RICHARD will be called upon to go into 'Harm's Way,' as a symbol of freedom and the American commitment to peace around the world," said Florida's First District Representative, Congressman Joe Scarborough, a member of the House National Security Committee, in whose district Naval Air Station Pensacola is located.

The commissioning ceremony was filled with references to the other two U.S. Navy ships to carry the name BONHOMME RICHARD. The first was a frigate built in France in 1765 for the East India Company, for service between France and the Orient. The French government placed the ship at the disposal of Captain John Paul Jones on February 4, 1779. Captain Jones then renamed the ship "Bonhomme Richard," in honor of Benjamin Franklin. It was from the frigate's deck, during an epic sea battle against a British Fleet led by HMS Serapis, that Captain Jones issued his immortal refusal to surrender, "I have not yet begun to fight!," a cry which has become LHD 6's motto.

"Last year I had the distinct honor to participate in the 250th birthday celebration of John Paul Jones, who we now consider the Father of the Navy," said Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton. "During that remembrance of John Paul Jones, I was struck by how much we should cherish not simply the events of our naval history, but the valor of the sailors and marines that made them so noteworthy. For it is valor in battle, rooted in our cherished ideals of freedom, which forges a natural alliance between our history and our destiny.

"I want to thank Ingalls Shipbuilding and Litton Industries," Secretary Dalton continued, "for this wonderful creation for the defense of liberty."

A second Bonhomme Richard, the aircraft carrier CV/CVA 31, was launched on April 29, 1944, at the New York Navy Yard, was commissioned November 26, 1944, and served honorably during the latter stages of World War II, in the Korean Conflict and in Vietnam, before being decommissioned in 1971. A group of more than 300 CV/CVA 31 veterans were on hand in Pensacola for LHD 6's commissioning. One of those veterans, Ralph Pound of Tupelo, Miss., called Saturday's commissioning "a special event for all of us veterans. There's always a bind...it doesn't matter if you were with (the other veterans) or not, there's a bind there that you can't really explain."

"Admiral Donald L. Pilling, USN, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, called the commissioning of a new ship of a line a significant event for the Navy. "And it is especially so when a ship so dramatically represents the Navy/Marine Corps team. This is a proud day for us...we are both happy and privileged to receive this mighty warship into the fleet."

Lieutenant General Martin R. Steele, USMC, Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans, Policies and Operations, welcomed the newest addition to the Navy/Marine Corps team. "This ship, its sailors and the thousands of Marines who will serve onboard, represent our nation's commitment to maintaining a Naval power projection and forcible entry capability unsurpassable in the world," he said.

The 844-foot, 40,500-ton LHD 6, second in size only to the Navy's aircraft carriers, is designed to lay off a troubled area of the world, and insert its 2,000-member Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) ashore by helicopters and 40 m.p.h. LCAC hover craft. As the centerpiece of an Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), an LHD is fully capable of amphibious assault, advance force and special purpose operations, as well as noncombatant evacuation and other humanitarian missions.

Rear Admiral William H. Butler, USNR, Deputy Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet, thanked all members of the Ingalls team for an incredible warship. "As we look to the future, this new and capable warship will be one of the key instruments in our national security strategy in the Pacific and the Arabian Gulf," he said. "She will provide assurance to our allies across the Pacific, rendering humanitarian assistance and deterring conflict."

Ingalls President Jerry St. Pe' said, "The team of the United States Navy and Ingalls Shipbuilding responded to the confidence placed in us by building this ship well, by building her on time and by building her within budget. The men and women of Ingalls send their best wishes to the crew of LHD 6 as they take this great ship into the greatest Navy in the world...there's no question that a wonderful voyage lies ahead."

Other commissioning participants included Mississippi's Fifth District Representative, Congressman Gene Taylor, who is also a member of the House National Security Committee; Vice Admiral Patricia A. Tracey, USN, Chief of Naval Education & Training; Rear Admiral David L. Brewer III, USN, Commander Amphibious Group THREE; Rear Admiral David P. Sargent Jr., USN, Program Executive Officer Expeditionary Warfare; Captain Thomas H. Gorski, USN, Program Manager, Amphibious Warfare, Program Executive Office; Captain Harry J. Rucker Jr., USN, Supervisor of Shipbuilding Conversion and Repair, Pascagoula; and Litton Industries Board Chairman John M. Leonis.

LHD 6 left Pensacola on Monday (August 17), sailing for U.S. Pacific Fleet duty homeported in San Diego, California, as an element of Amphibious Group THREE. Captain Douglas W. Keith, USN, a native of Los Angeles, California, is LHD 6's Commissioning Commanding Officer