USS Little Rock arrives in NY in advance of commissioning

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A new U.S. Navy ship has arrived in New York in advance of its commissioning, scheduled for later this month.

The USS Little Rock glided into the Buffalo harbor on Monday, escorted by the Buffalo Fire Department’s Edward M. Cotter fire boat and cheered by a few hundred people who lined up to greet it.

The littoral combat ship will be commissioned Dec. 16 at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park, where three World War II vessels are docked. Among them is the original USS Little Rock, which is now a floating museum.

A Navy ship has never before been commissioned alongside its namesake.