NAVAL STATION MAYPORT, Fla. – Naval Station Mayport will welcome a new ship for the second time in as many days on Monday.
The USS Nantucket, which was commissioned in Boston earlier this month, will now call the base home.
The Freedom-class combat ship is the fourth to bear the name Nantucket.
The USS John Basilone, the Navy’s latest missile destroyer, arrived in Mayport on Sunday after being commissioned in New York City.
Families and loved ones celebrated the crew’s arrival in Mayport. Some hadn’t seen each other in months.
“It’s been the longest I’ve ever been without these, my babies and my baby and it’s an absolute privilege and honor to serve for them,” sailor Corey Bernstein said.
For Lt. Maggie Willetts, it was her first time being at sea after having a child.
“It really means a lot to be home with him since he wasn’t up with me when we were up in the yard,” Willetts said.
More families will be reunited again on Monday when the USS Nantucket docks sometime after 2 p.m.