Rappahannock maneuvering into port at Pearl Harbor; April 2005 | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | USNS Rappahannock |
Namesake | Rappahannock River |
Ordered | 6 October 1988 |
Builder | Avondale Shipyard, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana |
Laid down | 29 March 1992 |
Launched | 14 January 1995 |
In service | 7 November 1995 |
Identification |
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Motto | RAS & ROLL! |
Status | In active service |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler |
Type | Fleet replenishment oiler |
Tonnage | 27,571 deadweight tons |
Displacement |
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Length | 677 ft 6 in (206.50 m) |
Beam | 97 ft 5 in (29.69 m) |
Draft | 36 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 | 89 Civilian Mariners (CIVMARS), 20 Licensed Officers, 69 Unlicensed Crew, Supplement 12 Person MILDET Embarked Security Team |
Armament |
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Aviation facilities | Helicopter landing platform |
Notes |
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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.
Rappahannock, the eighteenth ship and final ship of the Henry J. Kaiser class and the second U.S. Navy ship named for the Rappahannock River in Virginia, was laid down at Avondale Shipyard, Inc., at New Orleans, Louisiana, on 29 March 1992 and launched on 14 January 1995. She was one of only three of the eighteen Henry J. Kaiser-class ships – the other two being Patuxent and Laramie – to be built with a double bottom in order to meet the requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Hull separation is 6 feet (1.8 m) at the sides and 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) on the bottom, reducing her liquid cargo capacity by about 21,000 barrels (3,300 m3) from that of the 15 ships of her class without a double bottom.
Rappahannock entered non-commissioned U.S. Navy service under the control of Military Sealift Command with a primarily civilian crew on 7 November 1995.
This section needs expansionwith: history for 1995 through the present. You can help by adding to it. (January 2010) |
Rappahannock serves in the United States Pacific Fleet.
During Operation Tomodachi, Rappahannock delivered fuel, stores and humanitarian relief supplies to Blue Ridge for transport to mainland Japan. Rappahannock then loaded diesel and aviation fuel at Sasebo, Japan, on 24 March before sailing for Gwangyang, South Korea, arriving 27 March. There, Rappahannock loaded 289 pallets of bottled water, which the ship delivered to Yokosuka, Japan, 30 March. Less than 24 hours later, the ship was underway again in the direction of Sendai. Rappahannock completed 10 underway replenishment missions delivering more than 2.4 million gallons of fuel. [1]
On 16 July 2012, the Rappahannock was involved in an incident in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Dubai with an Indian fishing boat. The US Navy Fifth Fleet said that the boat approached the ship despite several warnings, [2] although this was disputed by those on board the boat. [3] "An embarked security team aboard a U.S. Navy vessel fired upon a small motor vessel after it disregarded warnings and rapidly approached the U.S. ship," Lt. Greg Raelson, media officer for U.S. Navy, said in an e-mailed statement. According to the Navy's Central Command Public Affairs, the Navy vessel followed its force protocol by first attempting to warn away the approaching craft with a series of non-lethal procedures using voice, radio, and lights. After those failed the Rappahannock escalated to lethal force, firing on the approaching vessel with a .50-caliber machine gun, [4] killing an Indian fisherman on board and wounding three others. [2] [5]
On 16 October 2019, the Rappahannock conducted a replenishment-at-sea for the amphibious assault ship USS Boxer (LHD-4) in the South China Sea. [6]
The Lewis and Clark class of dry cargo ship is a class of 14 underway replenishment vessels operated by the United States Navy's Military Sealift Command. The ships in the class are named after famous American explorers and pioneers.
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 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.
The Henry J. Kaiser class is an American class of eighteen fleet replenishment oilers which began construction in August 1984. The class comprises fifteen oilers which are operated by Military Sealift Command to provide underway replenishment of fuel to United States Navy combat ships and jet fuel for aircraft aboard aircraft carriers at sea. One ship, operated by the United States from 1987 to 1996, was sold to Chile in 2009 and commissioned into the Chilean Navy in 2010; and two ships were scrapped in 2011 while still incomplete.
Underway replenishment (UNREP) or replenishment at sea (RAS) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First developed in the early 20th century, it was used extensively by the United States Navy as a logistics support technique in the Pacific theatre of World War II, permitting U.S. carrier task forces to remain at sea indefinitely.
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.
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.
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 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 Big Horn (T-AO-198) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment oiler of the United States Navy.
USNS Patuxent (T-AO-201) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships of the United States Navy.
USNS Laramie (T-AO-203) is a Henry J. Kaiser-class underway replenishment oiler operated by the Military Sealift Command to support ships 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.
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.
The John Lewis class is a class of fleet replenishment oilers which began construction in September 2018. The class will comprise twenty oilers which will be operated by Military Sealift Command to provide underway replenishment of fuel and limited amounts of dry cargo to United States Navy carrier strike groups, amphibious ready groups, and other surface forces to allow them to operate worldwide.