The Navy will call its next hospital ship Balboa, the beloved nickname of Naval Medical Center...

The Navy’s next hospital ship will be called Balboa, the beloved nickname for Naval Medical Center San Diego, one of the largest military care centers in the world.

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro unveiled the name during an appearance Friday at the medical center, drawing crisp applause from an audience mostly made of sailors and Marines.

The USNS Balboa will be the second vessel in a new class of expeditionary ship that’s meant to give the Navy the ability to move rapidly from place to place to serve military personnel, especially in Indo-China. The vessel will be 361 feet long and capable of traveling about 35 mph, and it will handle V-22 Osprey, a vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that is vital to expeditionary forces.