USNS Pecos (T-AO-197) | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | USNS Pecos |
Namesake | The Pecos River in New Mexico and Texas |
Ordered | 12 February 1987 |
Builder | Avondale Shipyard, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana |
Laid down | 17 February 1988 |
Launched | 23 September 1989 |
In service | 6 July 1990-present |
Identification |
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Honors and awards | |
Status | In active Military Sealift Command service |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler |
Type | Fleet replenishment oiler |
Tonnage | 31,200 deadweight tons |
Displacement |
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Length | 677 ft (206 m) |
Beam | 97 ft 5 in (29.69 m) |
Draft | 35 ft (11 m) maximum |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | Two medium-speed Colt-Pielstick PC4-2/2 10V-570 diesel engines, two shafts, controllable-pitch propellers |
Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Capacity |
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Complement | approx. 88 (18 civilian officers, 1 U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer, 64 merchant mariners, ~5 U.S. Navy enlisted personnel) |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried | None |
Aviation facilities | Helicopter landing platform |
Notes |
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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.
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.
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. As routine procedure following an accident, members of the crew were subjected to drug testing. Captain Mark LaRochelle, the ship's Master, failed the initial and secondary drug tests and was subsequently relieved of command and fired from the Military Sealift Command. Following his dismissal from MSC, his US Coast Guard license was revoked.[ citation needed ]
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. [1] Pecos helped refuel USS Harry S. Truman and HMS Defender in 2016. [2]
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. [3] [4]
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.
Combat stores ships, or storeships, are ships used to store naval supplies. They are used to deliver supplies such as provisions and fuel to combat ships on extended deployments. The United States Navy operated the Sirius and Mars classes and the Royal Navy operated the Fort Rosalie class and continues to operate one Fort Victoria class ship, having scrapped the other. They carried or carry the fleets's refrigerated stores, dry provisions, technical spares, general stores, fleet freight, mail and replacement personnel or specialists. Storeships should not be confused with fast combat support ships which are high speed auxiliary ships or tenders which provide maintenance support to flotillas.
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.
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 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 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 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.
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.
USS Flint (AE-32/T-AE-32) is a Kilauea-class ammunition ship of the United States Navy, and was named after the sparking rock flint. Flint was constructed at the Ingalls Nuclear Shipbuilding Division, Litton Industries, Inc., Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship was delivered to the United States Navy at Charleston, South Carolina, on 30 August 1971.
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 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 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 San Diego (AFS-6) was a Mars-class combat stores ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1968. She served the U.S. Atlantic Fleet until decommissioned in 1993. She then was redesignated as a United States Naval Ship, assigned to the Military Sealift Command, and served in a non-commissioned status with a mostly civilian crew as USNS San Diego (T-AFS-6) until 1997.
USNS Kanawha (T-AO-196) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class fleet replenishment oiler of the United States Navy in non-commissioned service in the Military Sealift Command.
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 Big Horn (T-AO-198) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler of the United States Navy.
The Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force is a division of the US Navy. The 42 ships of the Military Sealift Command's Naval Fleet Auxiliary Force are the supply lines to U.S. Navy ships at sea. These ships provide virtually everything that Navy ships need, 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. NFAF ships also conduct towing, rescue and salvage operations or serve as floating medical facilities. All NFAF 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.
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.
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.