Norfolk-based ship named after 9/11 attack on Pentagon arrives in Middle East

Norfolk-based ship named after 9/11 attack on Pentagon arrives in Middle East

NORFOLK

A Norfolk-based Navy ship that’s named for the Virginia county where terrorists crashed an airplane into the Pentagon has made its way to the Middle East for the first time.

The Navy said Thursday that the amphibious transport dock Arlington has crossed through the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal runs through Egypt and connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.

The Arlington carries Marines and their equipment and is on its first operational deployment. It is one of three ships named after the locations of the 9/11 attacks and carries steel salvaged from the Pentagon with it at all times.

By crossing through the Suez Canal, the Arlington begins reporting to the Navy command that is responsible for about 2.5 million square miles of water, which includes the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Aden and Gulf of Oman.

“Our transition to the 5th Fleet area of operations marks the second chapter in Arlington’s Maiden Deployment,” said Capt. Sean Bailey, the Arlington’s commanding officer, in a statement. “We now have to transition from NATO-focused training and missions in the Mediterranean Sea to the daily conduct of maritime security operations and forward presence in a region of the world where the maritime domain is of strategic importance to a number of regional nations and allies.”

Brock Vergakis, 757-222-5846, [email protected]