Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced Jan. 16, USS McClung (LSM 1) as the name for the first ship in the new McClung-class of medium landing ships.
“The Landing Ship Medium (LSM) will be an asset to the Marine Corps’ amphibious capabilities, designed to greatly enhance operational flexibility and combat readiness,” said Del Toro. “I am honored to name the first ship in this class after Major McClung, a selfless leader and hero who embodied the highest ideals of service, honor, and loyalty to our nation.”
Honors U.S. Naval Academy graduate and Public Affairs Officer Major Megan M.L. McClung, USMC, who was killed in action while serving in Iraq. This will be the first Navy vessel to bear her name.
“When the McClung family spoke with Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, and learned of his intent to name a ship for Megan, our emotions ran high. In our discussion, Secretary Del Toro shared the support of General Eric Smith, Commandant of the Marine Corps, in the naming selection, he spoke of Megan’s commitment to the Navy and Marine Corps. Our family is incredibly honored that Megan’s service to her country is being honored in this way,” said Mike McClung. “Megan lived a life of bringing the stories of mission and brave commitment to the world but never needed to be that story. As a family we sometimes discuss how Megan would have felt being the center of that story, but we know that she would have found the greater story she has become a part of. With this great honor of naming this ship after her, Megan would remind us all that the greatest duty of this ship is to get others to their story, and to Be Bold, Be Brief, and Be Gone. The United States Navy again remembers Megan today and this ship and all who serve on it, will continue to tell her story as they bravely create their own legacy."
Commissioned in 1995 after graduation from the United States Naval Academy (USNA), McClung served on active duty until 2004 when she joined the Marine Corps Reserve. Recalled to active duty in 2005, McClung deployed to Al Anbar Province, Iraq, as the media relations officer for I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).
On 6 December 2006, she was killed alongside two U.S. Army Soldiers, Captain Travis Patriquin and Specialist Vincent Pomante III, by a roadside improvised explosive device in Ramadi. McClung was the first female Marine officer to be killed in the Iraq war and the first female graduate of the USNA to be killed in the line of duty.
In 2007, the broadcast studio at Camp Victory, Iraq, was named in her honor. The Defense Information School (DINFOS) presents a leadership award in her name to one graduating member of the Public Affairs & Communication Strategy Qualification Course. She was inducted into the DINFOS Hall of Fame in 2024. The Marine Corps presents the Major Megan McClung Leadership Award, in recognition of the recipients’ leadership skills and their contributions towards the tenets of equal opportunity, human relations, and public service, annually at the Joint Women’s Leadership Symposium. Major McClung is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Along with announcing the ship’s name, Secretary Del Toro announced the sponsors for the future USS McClung (LSM 1) will be her mother, Dr. Re McClung and her niece, Gabrielle McClung. They, in their role as the ship’s sponsor will represent a lifelong relation
ship with the ship and crew.
The Navy’s Medium Landing Ship (LSM) program, previously called the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) program, envisions procuring a class of 18 to 35 new amphibious ships to support the Marine Corps, particularly in implementing a new Marine Corps operational concept called Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO).
Mechanized and utility landing craft are rugged, steel displacement vessels used by amphibious forces to transport equipment and troops from ship to the shore, along the shore, and from shore back to the amphibious warships. Landing craft are also used to support civilian humanitarian/maritime operations.
More information on our medium landing ships can be found here.