The amphibious transport dock USS San Antonio (LPD 17) will arrive at Pier 88 in Manhattan at approximately noon on November 9, 2026, to take part in New York City’s annual Veterans Day events through November 13, the U.S. Navy announced on October 28. More than 400 sailors and 100 Marines will join the NYC Veterans Day Parade, a wreath laying ceremony, volunteer work at the New York State Veterans Home in Queens, and other community relations events. The ship last visited New York City for Fleet Week New York in May 2015.
The port visit caps a demanding stretch for the lead ship of the San Antonio class. The Norfolk-based LPD returned to homeport on October 16 after two back-to-back deployments over 14 months: first with the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), which left Norfolk on August 14, 2025, and operated in the Caribbean, then with Marines of Littoral Combat Force 24 (LCF-24) in the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations. “I am in awe of the efforts San Antonio’s crew and embarked Marines gave during our back to back deployments,” said Capt. Matt Gleason, the ship’s commanding officer.
USS San Antonio Deployment: From Venezuela Relief to Eastern Pacific Interdiction
The second deployment opened with a humanitarian mission. After earthquakes of magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 struck northern Venezuela on June 24, 2026, San Antonio arrived pierside in La Guaira on July 9, relieving sister ship USS Fort Lauderdale (LPD 28). Operating near the epicenter, the ship served as the afloat command-and-control center for the U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief element. By August 3, Venezuelan authorities had put the death toll at 6,125.
After a logistics stop in Ponce, Puerto Rico, the ship transited the Panama Canal on August 1, becoming the first amphibious transport dock to cross since 2018 and the first of its class to pass through the expanded Neo-Panamax locks, according to the Navy.
In the Eastern Pacific, San Antonio shifted to maritime security and interdiction operations under Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere (JTF-WHEM) in coordination with the government of Ecuador. On August 28 and again on September 2, Marines and sailors launched from the ship boarded and cleared vessels that SOUTHCOM said were operating as floating refueling stations for the Los Choneros trafficking organization, before U.S. forces sank them. Detained personnel were transferred to the Ecuadorian Coast Guard, according to the Navy.
San Antonio-Class LPD Design: Well Deck, Flight Deck, and Lift Capacity
Commissioned on January 14, 2006, San Antonio was built to embark, transport, and land elements of a Marine landing force. Publicly available specifications indicate a length of 684 feet and a full-load displacement of roughly 25,000 tons. Four Colt-Pielstick diesel engines drive two shafts for a top speed above 22 knots.
The well deck accommodates two Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) or one Landing Craft Utility (LCU), while the flight deck supports MV-22B Osprey tiltrotors, CH-53E heavy-lift helicopters, and the UH-1Y. The class carries roughly 700 troops, with surge capacity near 800, and is defended by two Rolling Airframe Missile (RAM) launchers and two Mk 46 30 mm gun systems. Those features explain the breadth of the deployment: command spaces and cargo volume made the ship a workable relief hub in La Guaira, while its aviation and small-boat capacity enabled boarding operations without a big-deck amphibious assault ship in company.
Analysis: San Antonio’s final months at sea show an LPD operating as an independent, disaggregated node rather than as one element of a three-ship ARG. That model stretches an amphibious fleet whose material readiness has drawn sustained congressional scrutiny, and which Congress protected with a statutory floor of 31 amphibious warships in the Fiscal Year 2023 National Defense Authorization Act. Sustained Western Hemisphere tasking now competes directly with ARG/MEU demand in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, and two deployments in 14 months on a 20-year-old hull will weigh on the ship’s next maintenance period.
San Antonio will be open for public visitation on November 10 and November 12 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with government identification required for entry. The Navy has not disclosed when San Antonio will enter its next maintenance availability.