U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus announced Friday that the first amphibious ready group ship scheduled to shift homeport to Naval Station Mayport will arrive near the end of 2013.
The USS New York, the USS Iwo Jima and the USS Fort McHenry, will shift to Mayport from their current homeport of Norfolk, Va. The New York will be the first to arrive, followed by the Iwo Jima and Fort McHenry in 2014.
Mabus originally announced Feb. 28 that the ARG would arrive no later than 2015.
Mabus said the three ships will need maintenance and repair work of about $75 million a year that can be done in Jacksonville.
“I am very pleased that the Navy is able condense the time horizon for the arrival of the Mayport ARG,” Mabus said in a statement.
“The move underscores just how important Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport are to our national defense, and how committed we are to strategic dispersal on the east coast,” he said.