USNS Pecos

Last updated
Pecos T-AO-197.jpg
USNS Pecos (T-AO-197)
History
Flag of the United States.svgUnited States
NameUSNS Pecos
NamesakeThe Pecos River in New Mexico and Texas
Ordered12 February 1987
Builder Avondale Shipyard, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana
Laid down17 February 1988
Launched23 September 1989
In service6 July 1990-present
Identification
Honors and
awards
StatusIn active Military Sealift Command service
General characteristics
Class and type Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler
Type Fleet replenishment oiler
Tonnage31,200 deadweight tons
Displacement
  • 9,500 tons light
  • Full load variously reported as 42,382 tons and 40,700 long tons (41,400 metric tons)
Length677 ft (206 m)
Beam97 ft 5 in (29.69 m)
Draft35 ft (11 m) maximum
Installed power
  • 16,000 hp (11.9 MW) per shaft
  • 34,442 hp (25.7 MW) total sustained
PropulsionTwo medium-speed Colt-Pielstick PC4-2/2 10V-570 diesel engines, two shafts, controllable-pitch propellers
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Capacity
Complementapprox. 88 (18 civilian officers, 1 U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, 64 merchant mariners, ~5 U.S. Navy enlisted personnel)
Armament
  • Peacetime: usually none
  • Wartime: crew-served machine guns via embarked security detachment
Aircraft carriedNone
Aviation facilities Helicopter landing platform
Notes
  • Five refueling stations
  • Two dry cargo transfer rigs

USNS Pecos (T-AO-197) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy, and the third such ship to be named after the Pecos River.

Contents

Pecos, the eleventh Henry J. Kaiser-class ship, was laid down on 17 February 1988 at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans, Louisiana, and launched on 23 September 1989. She was delivered to the Navy and placed in non-commissioned service with a primarily civilian crew under the control of the Military Sealift Command on 6 July 1990. The ship is equipped with a helicopter platform to allow for at-sea transfer of personnel and supplies.

Pecos is part of the MSC Naval Auxiliary Force, MSC Pacific, in the United States Pacific Fleet, and has received the National Defense Service Medal, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal twice, and the Southwest Asia Service Medal.

History

In May 1994, Pecos collided with USS Reuben James during a replenishment operation in the Persian Gulf. [1]

On 9 December 1999 a United States Marine Corps CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed into Pecos and sank while participating in a training mission. Seven of the 18 personnel on board the helicopter were killed in the accident. [2] [3]

During Operation Tomodachi, Pecos rendezvoused with United States Seventh Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge near Kyushu, Japan. Blue Ridge transferred 96 pallets of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief material to Pecos for delivery to the Essex Amphibious Group and Carrier Strike Group 5. Weighing as much as 1,000 pounds (450 kg) each, the pallets contained water containers and water purification tablets, first-aid products, tarpaulins, blankets, and other supplies. The ship arrived off Sendai on 25 March for more underway replenishment operations. During her support effort to Operation Tomodachi, Pecos completed nine underway replenishments and delivered more than 2.3 million U.S. gallons (8.7 million liters) of fuel to other supporting ships. [4] Pecos helped refuel USS Harry S. Truman and HMS Defender in 2016. [5]

Pecos (T-AO-197) attempting to replenish the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG-71). USNS Pecos Rear.jpg
Pecos (T-AO-197) attempting to replenish the guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG-71).

On 28 November 2018, the United States Navy sent Pecos and USS Stockdale through the Taiwan Strait as a demonstration of the "U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific," according to a U.S. Pacific Fleet spokesman. The transit took place only a few days before a planned meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Argentina. [6] [7]

Fate

On 9 October 2024, Pecos departed from San Diego enroute to be deactivated and taken out of service on the US East Coast. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military Sealift Command</span> United States Navy command for logistics

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.

USNS <i>Yukon</i> (T-AO-202) Oiler of the United States Navy

USNS Yukon (T-AO-202) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Replenishment oiler</span> Naval auxiliary ship

A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers.

USNS <i>Rappahannock</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USNS Rappahannock is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy.

USS <i>Mars</i> (AFS-1) Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USS Mars (AFS‑1), the third United States Navy ship to bear the name, was laid down by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego, California, on 5 May 1962; launched on 15 June 1963, sponsored by Mrs. Clyde Doyle, widow of Representative Clyde Doyle of California; and commissioned at Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 21 December 1963.

USNS <i>John Ericsson</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USNS John Ericsson (T-AO-194) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy attack adversaries.

USNS <i>Guadalupe</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USNS Guadalupe (T-AO-200) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy.

USNS <i>Richard E. Byrd</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USNS Richard E. Byrd (T-AKE-4) is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship of the United States Navy. She is the second United States Navy ship to be named after polar explorer Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd (1888–1957). Built by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company at San Diego, California, the ship was launched on 15 May 2007. Richard E. Byrd was delivered to Military Sealift Command on 8 January 2008.

USNS <i>Tippecanoe</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO-199) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command (MSC) to support ships of the United States Navy. She serves in the United States Pacific Fleet. Tippecanoe, the thirteenth ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class, was laid down at Avondale Shipyard, Inc., at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 19 November 1990 and launched on 16 May 1992. She entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of the MSC with a primarily civilian crew on 8 February 1993.

USNS <i>Carl Brashear</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USNS Carl Brashear (T-AKE-7) is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship of the United States Navy, named in honor of Master Chief Boatswain's Mate Carl Brashear (1931–2006), one of the first African-Americans to become a US Navy Master Diver, despite having lost a leg in the 1966 Palomares incident.

USS <i>Passumpsic</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USS Passumpsic (AO-107), the only United States Navy ship to bear the name, was an Ashtabula-class fleet replenishment oiler that served in the U.S. Navy from 1946 to 1973, then transferred to the Military Sealift Command to continue service as United States Naval Ship USNS Passumpsic (T-AO-107). She was the only U.S. Navy ship to bear the name Passumpsic, after the Passumpsic River in Vermont.

USNS <i>Henry J. Kaiser</i> United States Navy resupply ship

USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187) is a United States Navy fleet replenishment oiler and the lead ship of her class. Her mission is to resupply U.S. Navy and allied ships at sea with fuel oil, jet fuel, lubricating oil, potable water, and dry and refrigerated goods, including food and mail.

USNS <i>Walter S. Diehl</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USNS Walter S. Diehl (T-AO-193) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler of the United States Navy. She was named after Captain Walter Stuart Diehl, USN, a career naval officer and aeronautical engineer.

USNS <i>Big Horn</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USNS Big Horn (T-AO-198) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler of the United States Navy.

USNS <i>Medgar Evers</i> Cargo ship of the United States Navy

USNS Medgar Evers (T-AKE-13) is a Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship of the United States Navy. As part of the Navy's Combat Logistics Force, her mission is to deliver ammunition, provisions, dry stores, refrigerated food, spare parts, potable water, and diesel and jet fuel to U.S. Navy and allied ships while at sea. The ship is named for civil rights movement activist Medgar Evers, a World War II veteran who was assassinated in 1963. The Navy announced the naming on 9 October 2009.

The United States Navy Combat Logistics Force (CLF), formerly the Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force (NFAF), is a subordinate component of the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. CLF's 42 ships are the supply lines that provide virtually everything that Navy ships at sea needs to accomplish its missions, including fuel, food, ordnance, spare parts, mail and other supplies. NFAF ships enable the Navy fleet to remain at sea, on station and combat ready for extended periods of time. CLF ships also conduct towing, rescue and salvage operations or serve as floating medical facilities. All CLF ships are government owned and crewed by civil service mariners. Some of the ships also have a small contingent of Navy personnel aboard for operations support, supply coordination and helicopter operations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Tomodachi</span> US earthquake relief operation for Japan

Operation Tomodachi was a United States Armed Forces assistance operation to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The operation took place from 12 March to 4 May 2011; involved 24,000 U.S. servicemembers, 189 aircraft, 24 naval ships; and cost $90 million.

USS <i>Hassayampa</i> Oiler of the United States Navy

USS Hassayampa was a Neosho-class fleet replenishment oiler in service with the United States Navy, and the United States Merchant Marine from 1955 to 1991. A veteran of the Vietnam and First Gulf War, she served for 36 years before being laid up in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in California. Her keel was laid on 13 July 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military Sealift Command Japan</span> Military unit

Military Sealift Command Japan (MSC Japan) (軍事海上輸送司令部 (MSC) 日本) is an Echelon IV Command of the United States Navy responsible for training, equipping and maintaining Military Sealift Command's government-owned, government-operated sealift ships throughout the country of Japan. Headquartered in Yokohama at Yokohama North Dock and co-located with the US Army 836th Transportation Battalion, MSC Japan is Commanded by an Active Duty Naval Officer and staffed with the following organizational Departments: N1 (Administration), N3 (Operations/Port Operations), N4 (Logistics), N6 (Information & Technology Support), N7 (Port Engineer), N8 (Accounting), and N10 (Contract Support). MSC Japan operates two warehouses, one at North Dock (MSC's largest overseas warehouse) and one in Sasebo, Japan. These facilities provide logistics support for all MSC units operating within the Pacific theater.

References

  1. "U.S. Navy Collision in Persian Gulf". Chicago Tribune. 4 May 1994. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
  2. AP (17 December 1999). "Survivors recount deadly Marine copter crash". Sun Journal. Lewiston, ME. p. B6.
  3. "Search intensifies for 7 Marines after helicopter crash". CNN. Archived from the original on 2010-03-10. Retrieved February 27, 2007.
  4. "Sealift -- Operation Tomodachi...Friends to the rescue". Archived from the original on 2013-02-24. Retrieved 2011-10-08.
  5. "Navy News".
  6. Pickrell, Ryan (28 November 2018). "US Navy warships just rocked the Taiwan Strait in a power play ahead of Trump's meeting with the Chinese president". businessinsider.com. Business Insider. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  7. Sabga, Patricia (29 November 2018). "Breakthrough, escalation or pause? Trump, Xi set to meet at G20". aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  8. Cannon, Sarah (9 October 2024). "MSCPAC Bids Farewell to USNS Pecos". United States Navy. Retrieved 10 October 2024.