USS Dubuque (LPD-8), an Austin-class amphibious transport dock, is the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the city of Dubuque, Iowa. USS Dubuque is named after Dubuque, Iowa on the Mississippi River and her founder, Julien Dubuque - a French Canadian explorer. The second ship to bear the name, USS Dubuque was commissioned on 1 September 1967 at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia.