The future USS John L. Canley (ESB 6) will join the active fleet Feb. 17, with a commissioning ceremony at Naval Base Coronado’s Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego.
The expeditionary sea base class of warship is a versatile staging platform that can be used both in armed conflict and for peacekeeping, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance.
“It is basically a mobile air base,” said Capt. Thomas A. Mays, who serves as commanding officer of both of the ship’s two crews. “It can be uses for the US Marine Corps, it can be used for special forces, it can be used for unmanned aerial or surface systems.”
The ship has two rotating crews, who have been working with Mays for almost two years to prepare the ship for commissioning.
“One of our primary missions is aiding Marine Corps aviation minesweeping,” Mays said. “We can take the MH-53 Echo helicopters or other helicopters in that class, use mine sleds we’ll put down on the lower mission deck. We’ll drop those in the water and the helicopters will then drag them along and sweep for mines to clear an area for an assault.”
The ship will be commissioned on Feb. 17 at 10 a.m. Live stream the event here.
Watch our tour of the ship here.
