Free Republic

The training accident killed eight Marines and one sailor. The former Navy commanding officer of the amphibious transport dock USS Somerset, who was officially censured for a training accident in which eight Marines and one sailor died, will not command an aircraft carrier after all. Navy Capt. John William Kurtz was the Somerset’s captain when an amphibious assault vehicle, or AAV, sank while returning to the ship during a July 30, 2020 training exercise. It was the deadliest training accident involving an AAV in Marine Corps history..... But not long after news broke that Kurtz had been selected to command...

AVONDALE, La. — The USS Somerset — the last of three Navy ships named for 9/11 attack sites — was christened Saturday in honor of the passengers and crew of the plane that crashed before terrorists could reach their intended target. Passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 stormed the cockpit and thwarted an attack on Washington, but the plane crashed in Somerset County, Pa., killing all 40 passengers and crew members. “The men and women of Flight 93 ... thought they were going to San Francisco to work, to play, to learn; to live their lives in peace while others...

9/11 steel poured for USS SomersetBy KIRK SWAUGER Published: August 06, 2008 11:35 pm SOMERSET — The old draglines that towered above the reclaimed strip mine where Flight 93 crashed near Shanks-ville almost seven years ago are gone. But their symbolic significance to the day average Americans fought back against terror will not be lost. Twenty-two tons of steel from one of the large cranes was melted and poured Wednesday for the stemhold of the USS Somerset, a Navy vessel being constructed in honor of Flight 93’s passengers and crew. “We’re going to be cutting the water for that ship...

WASHINGTON — The Navy announced it will name two planned ships after the places where two of the planes hijacked on Sept. 11, 2001, crashed. The Arlington will be named for Arlington, Va., where the Pentagon is. The Somerset will be named for the county in Pennsylvania where it is believed hijackers deliberately crashed their plane after passengers rose up against them. The ships are amphibious transport docks, the eighth and ninth of the San Antonio class. Each will have a crew of 363 people and will be capable of carrying 699 Marines. The Arlington and Somerset will be built...

  Navy Honors Sept. 11 by Naming New Ships for Arlington, SomersetStory Number: NNS040909-13Release Date: 9/9/2004 3:52:00 PMSpecial release from the U.S. Department of DefenseWASHINGTON (NNS) -- Secretary of the Navy Gordon England named the eighth and ninth ships of the San Antonio-class of Amphibious Transport Dock ships as Arlington and Somerset. The future USS Arlington and USS Somerset will join USS New York as living tributes to those who suffered in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and to the nation. Arlington was chosen to honor the city and county in northern Virginia, and especially, the 184...