General Characteristics, USS VELLA GULF 

Keel Laid: April 22, 1991 
Launched: June 13, 1992
Commissioned: September 18, 1993 
Builder: Litton/Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Miss. (now General Dynamics)
Propulsion system: Four General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines that generate 100,000 shaft horsepower

Propellers: Two 18’ screws manufactured by Bird-Johnson, Inc. 

Blades on each Propeller: Five 

Complement: Approximately 350 (30 officers, 320 enlisted)
Length: 567 feet (173 meters) 
Beam: 55 feet (16.8 meters) 
Draft: 34 feet (10.2 meters) 
Displacement: Approx. 9,600 tons full load 
Speed: 30+ knots 
Cost: $1 billion 
(Construction cost only, does not include post-commissioning upgrades)

Aircraft: Can carry two SH-60 SEAHAWK (LAMPS III) helicopters

Armament: Two MK 41 Vertical Launch Systems for STANDARD missiles, TOMAHAWK cruise missiles, Antisubmarine Rockets; MK 46 torpedoes, HARPOON missiles, two MK 45 5-inch/54 caliber guns, two Vulcan PHALANX Close-In Weapons Systems, chaff and NULKA decoy systems, and a variety of minor caliber weapons. 

Homeport: Norfolk, VA.