San Diego’s General Dynamics-NASSCO, the last major shipbuilder on the West Coast, has formally introduced its huge new floating dry dock by accepting the amphibious assault ship USS America for repairs and maintenance. The 844-foot America quietly pulled into the dock late last week and will unde rgo work that’s expected to cost about $200 million, helping sustain NASSCO’s workforce. The warship is about 24 feet longer than the white-and-blue dry dock, which was built in Turkey and carried to Southern California last year aboard a heavy-lift ship. The dock will be used to repair and build Navy vessels and commercial ships. This is the second time in recent weeks that NASSCO has drawn attention. Earlier, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle told the Union-Tribune during a visit to San Diego that he wants to explore whether NASSCO and its neighbor, BAE Systems, could expand capacity to help repair more Navy ships. ...read more read less