About

WE LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE
 
ANCHORAGE represents the expeditionary character and versatility of maritime forces that the San Antonio class amphibious ships was built to deploy, implementing forward presence, deterrence, sea control, power projection, maritime security, responses to crises worldwide, and humanitarian assistance/disaster response wherever and whenever needed. These expeditionary forces mix highly mobile air and ground, repowered with self-sustainable forces that can quickly project compelling power, withdraw rapidly, and then reconstitute to re-deploy for follow-on missions.
 
ANCHORAGE may also be called upon to render humanitarian aid just as U.S.S. MESA VERDE (LPD 19) performed along with other forces after the devastating Haiti earthquake in 2010. Designed from the keel up for such missions, ANCHORAGE is capable of supporting sustained and continuous operations in this challenging environment.
 

CREST MEANING

USS Anchorage’s (LPD 23) crest includes a shield containing both Navy blue and USMC red, which references the ship’s mission to transport Marines. Two anchors are connected by a rope that forms a stylized “A.”  The shield sits on evergreen boughs.
 
Above the shield are six Battle Stars earned by the previous Anchorage class dock landing ship USS Anchorage (LSD 36), which saw duty during the Vietnam War. The silhouette of a sailing ship in front of the Chugach Mountains of southern Alaska. A pair of moose antlers frames the ship. Moose are featured in the landscape of the ship’s namesake city.
 
The motto, “Nil fato relinquemus,” is Latin for “We leave nothing to chance.” Capt. Brian J. Quin, the first commanding officer of Anchorage, said he got the idea for the motto while visiting the Alaska Native Heritage Center and learned how Native Alaskans would constantly prepare for oncoming seasons.


SHIP AND UNIT HISTORY

Keel Laid: September 24, 2007
 
Christening: May 14, 2011
 
Commissioning: May 4, 2013, in Anchorage, AK
 
Maiden Deployment: May 11, 2015-December 15, 2015
 
Western Pacific: July 10, 2018-March 1, 2019
 
Western Pacific: November 8, 2022-June 8, 2023

 
NAMESAKE INFORMATION

The San Antonio class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD 23) is the second ship of the United States Navy named after the city of Anchorage, AK. Its predecessor, the Anchorage class dock landing ship USS Anchorage (LSD 36) completed 19 deployments in the western Pacific during its 34 years of service.