USNS Millinocket approaching Kiribati in 2015 | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Millinocket |
Namesake | Millinocket |
Operator | Military Sealift Command |
Awarded | 28 January 2010 [1] |
Builder | Austal USA [1] |
Laid down | 3 May 2012 [1] |
Launched | 5 June 2013 [1] [2] |
In service | 21 March 2014 [1] |
Renamed | from Fortitude |
Reclassified | T-EPF-3, 2015 |
Identification |
|
Motto |
|
Status | Active |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Spearhead-class Expeditionary Fast Transport |
Length | 103.0 m (337 ft 11 in) |
Beam | 28.5 m (93 ft 6 in) |
Draft | 3.83 m (12 ft 7 in) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 43 knots (80 km/h; 49 mph) |
Troops | 312 |
Crew | 41 |
Aircraft carried | Medium helicopter |
Aviation facilities | Helipad |
USNS Millinocket (JHSV-3/T-EPF-3)(ex-Fortitude) is the third Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, which is operated by the United States Navy 's Military Sealift Command and was built in Mobile, Alabama. [3] [4]
The EPF can transport US Army and US Marine Corps company-sized units with their vehicles, or reconfigure to become a troop transport for an infantry battalion. [3]
It has a flight deck for helicopter operations and a loading ramp that allows vehicles to quickly drive on and off the ship. The ramp is suitable for the types of austere piers and quay walls common in developing countries. EPF has a shallow draft (under 15 feet (4.6 m)). [3]
On 30 May 2012, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus announced in Fall River, Massachusetts that the third Expeditionary Fast Transport, previously having been named Fortitude by the United States Army before the transfer of the EPF program to the Navy, would be named USNS Millinocket. Since the ship will be operated by the Military Sealift Command and not the United States Navy itself, it will carry the USNS designation and not USS. [5] The ship is the second U.S. Navy vessel to be named Millinocket (after the town in Maine), the first being a freighter sunk by a U-boat in 1942. [6] [7]
The ship is laid down on 3 May 2012 and launched on 5 June 2013 by Austal USA. She was commissioned on 21 March 2014.
In 2016 Millinocket will transport items to test with Fort Worth the LCS expeditionary maintenance capability. [8]
The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US military services as well as for other government agencies. It first came into existence on 9 July 1949 when the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) became solely responsible for the Department of Defense's ocean transport needs. The MSTS was renamed the Military Sealift Command in 1970.
A joint support ship (JSS) is a multi-role naval vessel capable of launching and supporting joint amphibious and airlift operations. It can also provide command and control, sealift and seabasing, underway replenishment, disaster relief and logistics capabilities for combined land and sea operations.
Austal USA is an American shipbuilder based on Blakeley Island in Mobile, Alabama. It is a subsidiary of the Australian shipbuilder Austal, operating under a Special Security Arrangement which allows it to work independently and separately on some of the most sensitive United States defense programs despite its foreign ownership.
Dublin Swift is a high-speed catamaran built in 2001 by Austal as a passenger and vehicle catamaran ferry. After conversion to a Maritime Prepositioning ship the vessel was chartered by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command until January 2018 as WestPac Express. It was then converted for civilian use as a passenger ferry by Irish Ferries and renamed Dublin Swift.
USS Fortitude may refer to the following ships operated by the United States Navy:
HST-2, formerly named USNS Puerto Rico and Alakai, is a vessel owned by the United States Navy Military Sealift Command. She was originally Hawaii Superferry's first high-speed ferry. The vessel was later chartered by Bay Ferries Limited to operate a ferry service between Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
Austal Limited is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, high-speed ferries, and supply or crew transfer vessels for offshore windfarms and oil and gas platforms.
The Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport (EPF) is a United States Navy–led shipbuilding program to provide a high-speed, shallow draft vessel intended for rapid intra-theater transport of medium-sized cargo payloads. The EPFs can reach speeds of 35–45 knots, and allow the rapid transit and deployment of conventional or special forces, equipment and supplies.
USNS Fall River (JHSV-4/T-EPF-4) is the fourth Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, which is operated by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command (MSC). Fall River was built by Austal USA in Mobile, Alabama.
An Expeditionary Transfer Dock (ESD), formerly the Mobile Landing Platform (MLP), is designed to be a semi-submersible, flexible, modular platform providing the US Navy with the capability to perform large-scale logistics movements such as the transfer of vehicles and equipment from sea to shore. These ships significantly reduce the dependency on foreign ports and provide support in the absence of port availability. The class also houses a sub-class variant called the Expeditionary Mobile Base (ESB), formerly the Afloat Forward Staging Base (AFSB).
USNS Spearhead (JHSV-1/T-EPF-1) is the lead ship of the Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport to be operated by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. USNS Spearhead was christened on 17 September 2011.
USNS Montford Point (T-ESD-1),, the lead ship of her class of Expeditionary Transfer Docks (ESD), is a ship named in honor of African American Marine Corps recruits who trained at Montford Point Camp, North Carolina, from 1942 to 1949. After $115 million was allocated for long-lead time material and advanced design efforts, in late 2010 General Dynamics's National Steel and Shipbuilding Company was awarded the contract, worth approximately $500 million, to build the first of three planned vessels.
USNS John Glenn (T-ESD-2), is a United States Navy Expeditionary Transfer Dock ship named in honor of John Glenn, a Naval Aviator, retired United States Marine Corps colonel, veteran of World War II and the Korean War, astronaut, and United States senator.
USNS Trenton (JHSV-5/T-EPF-5), (ex-Resolute) is the fifth Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, operated by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. Spearhead-class ships are used to support overseas operations, conduct humanitarian aid and disaster relief, and support special operations forces. This type of vessel also has an aviation flight deck and can operate in shallow waters.
USNS Brunswick (JHVS-6/T-EPF-6), is the sixth Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, currently in service with the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. It is the fourth ship in naval service named after Brunswick, Georgia. Brunswick is one of three expeditionary fast transport ships in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility to continue its mission of providing rapid intra-theater transport of troops and military equipment. Like other EPFs of its class, the Brunswick is capable of carrying up to 600 short tons of equipment for distances of 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots.
USNS Choctaw County (JHSV-2/T-EPF-2), (ex-Vigilant) is the second Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, which is operated by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command and was built in Mobile, Alabama.
USNS Carson City (JHSV-7/T-EPF-7), (ex-Courageous) is the seventh Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, currently in service with the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. She is the second ship in naval service named after Carson City, Nevada.
USNS City of Bismarck (JHSV-9/T-EPF-9), (ex-Sacrifice) is the ninth Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport and operated by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. It is the first ship in naval service named after Bismarck, North Dakota’s capital city.
USNS Point Loma (T-EPF-15) will be the fifteenth Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport, operated by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. On 16 July 2021, acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Harker announced that she would be named after Point Loma, San Diego. This is the second ship named after Point Loma, with the first being USS Point Loma (AGDS-2), a Deep Submergence Support Ship
Media related to IMO 9677519 at Wikimedia Commons