STORY UPDATED AT 8:54 p.m. at 5/6/13:
(Photo: Scott Presley, 5-6-13)
After spending five days in Alaska's largest city, the USS Anchorage left the Port of Anchorage shortly after 6:00 p.m. Monday.
The navy warship arrived May 1 and held its commissioning ceremony May 4.
"Talking with the folks within the Department of the Navy who do these commissionings all around the country, they remark that Anchorage has been the best so far with community support," Captain Brian Quin said. "I told them that's because Anchorage is the best so far with the crew and the ship, so it's only proper that we have a community that supports us."
Editor's note: KTUU's Neil Torquiano contributed to an update of this story.
STORY UPDATED AT 6:28 a.m. at 5/6/13:
The USS Anchorage and its crew will weigh anchor around 5 p.m. tonight, May 6.
After an eventful weekend of free public tours and Saturday's commissioning ceremony, the Navy warship will head out to sea for seven days on its way back to the ship's home port in San Diego, California.
The crew took a rest and rehabilitation day Sunday to do some last-minute sightseeing and to recuperate from Saturday's historic commission.
Thousands of people, despite the cold rain and snow over the weekend, witnessed the USS Anchorage's commissioning ceremony at the Port of Anchorage.
Saturday's ceremony was the first-ever in Anchorage, but it's not the first time a Navy warship has carried the same name. The original USS Anchorage was commissioned in 1969 in Portsmouth, Virginia.
Officials say the USS Anchorage will travel the globe for the next 40 years.
Editor's note: The city the original USS Anchorage was commissioned in has been corrected from Port Smith, VA to Portsmouth, VA.
Contact Jessica Ridgway