Donated Alaska moose head to sail with U.S.S. Anchorage

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska, May 7 (UPI) -- The U.S.S. Anchorage, in its namesake port for its commissioning ceremony, will leave with a moose head as a souvenir and a remembrance.

The 100-pound mounted moose head, whose antlers measure 65 inches tip-to-tip, is a gift from Anchorage resident Lex Patten in honor of his late father Allen Patten, a World War II Navy veteran, the Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday.

Lex Patten said he shot the moose in Alaska's McGrath area in 1990.

"It was the last moose hunt I went on with my dad. He was 73 at the time."

The U.S.S. Anchorage, an amphibious transport dock ship, was commissioned May 4, the newspaper said.

Referring to the ship's captain, Patten said, "The captain is quite an outdoorsman. I guess he has a plan for where to put it where it will be seen by anyone visiting the ship."