Lewis and Clark class dry cargo ship

Lewis & Clark class dry cargo ship

File:USNS Lewis and Clark;09750116.jpg

USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1)

For other ships of the same name, see USS Lewis and Clark.

The Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo ship is the next class of Combat Logistics Force (CLF) underway replenishment vessels to be constructed for the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. Lewis and Clark-class ships will replace the existing fifteen Mars- and Sirius-class combat store ships and the Kilauea-class ammunition ships. When operating in concert with a Henry J. Kaiser-class oiler the Lewis and Clarks will also replace Sacramento-class fast combat support ships. The first of the planned twelve ships, USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1), was placed in service with the MSC in June 2006, and is being designed for a forty-year service life. The ships will be named for famous American explorers and pioneers.

The primary role of the Lewis and Clarks is to provide logistic lift from supply sources such as friendly ports, or while at sea, from specially equipped merchant ships by consolidation. Lewis and Clarks will transfer cargo (ammunition, food, limited quantities of fuel, repair parts, ship store items, and expendable supplies and material) to station ships and other naval warfare forces. As auxiliary support ships, Lewis and Clarks will directly contribute to the Navy's ability to maintain a forward presence. When operating together with Henry J. Kaiser-class oilers Lewis and Clarks will provide the carrier battle group and/or amphibious readiness group with product lift equivalent to a Supply-class fast combat support ship.

Construction of the lead ship, USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE-1), was awarded to National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) of San Diego, California, on 18 October 2001. The contract contains options for eleven additional ships. The option for the second ship, USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE-2), was exercised simultaneously with award of Lewis and Clark. The option for an additional ship was exercised in 2002, for another in 2003, for two more in 2004, for two more ships in 2005, for one in 2006, and for three more ships in 2008. As of 2009, a total of fourteen ships had been ordered. In 2010, General Dynamics NASSCO was awarded the contract to build the last two ships in the class.

Ships

Ship	Hull. No.	Launched	In Service	Status	NVR Page	MSC Page
Lewis and Clark	001 !T-AKE-1	2005-05-21	2006-06-20	In service	[1]	[2]
Sacagawea	002 !T-AKE-2	2006-06-24	2007-02-27	In Service	[3]	[4]
Alan Shepard	003 !T-AKE-3	2006-12-06	2007-06-26	In Service	[5]	[6]
Richard E. Byrd	004 !T-AKE-4	2007-05-15	2008-01-08	In Service	[7]	[8]
Robert E. Peary	005 !T-AKE-5	2007-10-27	2008-06-05	In Service	[9]	[10]
Amelia Earhart	006 !T-AKE-6	2008-04-06	2008-10-30	In Service	[11]	[12]
Carl Brashear	007 !T-AKE-7	2008-09-18	2009-03-04	In Service	[13]	[14]
Wally Schirra	008 !T-AKE-8	2009-03-08	2009-09-01	In Service	[15]	[16]
Matthew Perry	009 !T-AKE-9	2009-08-16	—	Building	[17]	—
Charles Drew	010 !T-AKE-10	2010-02-27	—	Building	[18]	—
Washington Chambers	011 !T-AKE-11	—	—	Building	[19]	—
William McLean	012 !T-AKE-12	—	—	Building	[20]	—
Medgar Evers	013 !T-AKE-13	—	—	Building	[21]	—
Unnamed	014 !T-AKE-14	—	—	Ordered	[22]	—

Missions

On February 8, 2008, dry cargo/ammunition ship USNS Lewis and Clark — the first ship in Military Sealift Command's newest class of ships — returned to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., after its first deployment.

The ship successfully completed a six-month tour to the U.S. Central Command area of operations to resupply U.S. Navy ships — providing logistics support in the Persian Gulf, around the Horn of Africa, along the length of Somalia and beyond the equator.

USNS Sacagawea (T-AKE-2) got underway for its first deployment 11 December 2008 in the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet area of operations.

USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE-4) entered the U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet area of operations July 24, 2008, marking the arrival of the first Lewis and Clark-class combat logistics support ship in service to the 52 million-square-mile region.

References

This article includes information collected from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) Web site navsea.mil and that of the contractor NASSCO.

• Press Release

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Lewis and Clark class dry cargo ships

• Military Sealift Command
• NASSCO/General Dynamics Corporation
• Military Sealift Command Fact Sheet, Dry Cargo/Ammunition Ships - T-AKE
• US Navy on the T-AKE As It Beefs Up Supply Ship Capacity (updated) at Defense Industry Daily